Financial ecosystem for mobility services expands as BMW and RingGo launch in-car parking payment solution

BMW offers a signficiant potential market for digital services suppliers, with more than 1.3 million connected cars worldwide, supported by a smartphone app that gives it a closer connection to customers even if they are away from their vehicles.The BMW Group’s smartphone app development team is one of the world’s largest after Google’s, bringing together a total of 300 employees.

RingGo is a leading cashless parking solution that serves more than 18 million customers in 450 towns and cities nationwide.

It is part of the Park Now Group, which was one of a series of mobility joint ventures run by BMW Group and Daimler under the Your Now brand.

This month, authorities approved the sale of Park Now Group to EasyPark Group, creating a combined digital parking, electrical vehicle charging and mobility services company operating in 3,200 cities globally.

The terms of the sale are not being disclosed.

The sale is the latest change in the fast-moving mobility services market, where manufacturers and service providers are developing and launching a range of new products to meet changing consumer needs.
Initiatives include the development of financial ecosystems linked to connected cars, so drivers can use their vehicles as mobile wallets.

This allows drivers to pay for anything from fuel to coffee from their dashboard to create a valuable new revenue stream and generate consumer insights from millions of vehicles.

In addition to hosting external payments solutions providers, manufacturers are also investigating how to create their own payment systems.

Jaguar Land Rover has partnered with the IOTA Foundation to develop a blockchain-powered payments system, which automatically verifies payments, so there are no transaction fees from service providers.

Volkswagen is creating a cloud-based marketplace to sell extra vehicle functions and online services that it estimates could generate revenues of more than €1 billion by 2025.

Earlier this year, Stellantis, owner of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group, became the first automotive manufacturer to reward its customers for sustainable driving behaviour using digital coins.

The new service, developed for E-Mobility by Stellantis, rewards drivers of its new all-electric Fiat 500 with KiriCoin, a cryptocurrency that can be spent in a dedicated marketplace in the Fiat app.

Drivers with the best scores receive rewards including vouchers for Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Spotify.