Pay With Your Fingertips From the Comfort of Your Car (Coming Soon to a Mercedes Near You)

That's not just a metaphor; digital biometric scanners are already installed in the EQS and EQE series, the S-Class and C-Class, and the new GLC. The German automotive giant is the world's first manufacturer to integrate Visa's Delegated Authentication and Cloud Token Framework technology that enable native in-car payments.

Visa Cloud Tokens help to protect and encrypt sensitive payment information. They let the passengers use the native in-car payment to pay for digital services – connecting the smartphone to the car's infotainment system.

For instance, tech-savvy customers who want to turn on the automobile's climate control from their phones must first buy the respective service. The car's MBUX system lets them pay for the optional feature with one touch. Similarly, upgrading the vehicle's software (like detailed navigation with weather alerts or real-time parking space readiness) is attained from the Mercedes-Benz console touchscreen.

The Mercedes me Store allows customers to further personalize their vehicles after purchasing. It's becoming a trendy paradigm for carmakers to charge their customers extra in exchange for unlocking pre-installed hardware features. Consider the rear steering on the EQS – a fee payment is due to fully unleash the potential of this otherwise helpful and cool technical aid.

Used cars owners can use the Mercedes me Store to change previously installed settings and configure the automobile to best suit their needs. Cardholders with an eligible Visa credit or debit card can use native in-car payment by linking their card with their Mercedes me user account and activating Mercedes pay+ in the vehicle via MBUX. In the future, Mercedes will integrate payment technology from other card systems.

Mercedes pay+ will be available for other European markets later this year, with the option of native in-car payments expanded to other car-related services, such as fueling. Drivers will pay directly from the car – via the Mercedes me app, through a smartphone-backed two-step verification, or by entering a PIN in the MBUX infotainment system. Before the year's end, fingerprint authorization will be available.

By 2026, transaction volume for in-vehicle payments is estimated to exceed 4.7 billion dollars, according to a 2021 Juniper Research study. The most popular purchase will be the tank-filling shopping session – roughly half of all fingerprint-secured transactions.

According to the same survey, customers see increased convenience and ease of life as the most significant advantages of in-car payments. More than half of potential German customers consider this technology a competitive advantage over other automotive brands.