General Motors, IBM and Mastercard partner on in-car payments

General Motors and IBM have partnered to create OnStar Go, a cognitive mobility platform for the automotive industry. 

The product will be rolled out in early 2017 and will allow drivers to interact with certain brands through a digital dashboard. The dashboard will allow drivers to activate a fuel pump and then pay for it from the dash, and order and pay for a coffee.

“On average, people in the U.S. spend more than 46 minutes per day in their car and are looking for ways to optimize their time,” said Phil Abram, Executive Director, GM Connected Products and Strategy.

IBM’s Watson, the cognitive computer, continuously learns from previous interactions and will learn driver’s preferences, sifting through data to work out behavioural patterns.

Mastercard is one of the first companies to join the new platform and will enable drivers to make payments straight from inside the car. The platform will also integrate Mastercard’s tokenization platform, Mastercard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) and Masterpass, which stores customers’ card details, allowing them to pay for things faster.

Parkopedia, which provides parking spot information, has also signed up meaning drivers can select and pay for parking spots from the car.

Related reading