As cars become increasingly digital, it makes sense to give drivers ways to pay for things like parking straight from their infotainment system. And that’s exactly what Hyundai plans to do with its latest digital service.
Hyundai Pay is launching in the U.S. with the 2024 Kona, and will expand to other vehicles in the automaker’s lineup. By putting their credit card information into the app, the service will make it easier for drivers to pay for certain things.
To start, that will mostly be parking, thanks to Hyundai’s collaboration with Parkopedia. The system allows American drivers to find, reserve, and pay for parking at 6,000 locations across the country. That means that they can simply stop, step out of the vehicle, and leave, without having to search for a payment terminal.
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“American motorists report significant challenges in finding parking and a distinct desire for in-car parking services, with U.S. Hyundai drivers showing a particular interest in accessing parking information through their vehicles,” said Hans Puvogel, Parkopedia’s COO. “We are proud to be the first in-car commerce service to launch on the future-proof Hyundai Pay platform, which shows significant faith in the auto-grade quality of our services from one of the leading automakers.”
But Hyundai Pay will be for more than just parking, the automaker says. In addition, the system will be useful for drivers of electric vehicles and may facilitate plug-and-go payments, that allow drivers to charge their vehicle with ease.
“Hyundai Pay is the latest example of our continuous advancements in smart mobility and software-defined vehicles,” said Olabisi Boyle, vice president, product planning and mobility strategy, Hyundai Motor North America. “With Hyundai Pay’s scalable e-commerce platform, we can elevate customer convenience and extend their digital reach by making every day needs—like finding and paying for parking—easier, swifter and safer via our connected-car, integrated-cockpit and secure-transaction technology.”
Hyundai says that it will keep users’ payment information secure by using tokenization, which replaces your card’s account details with unique digital identifiers when making payments. In addition to the Kona, nine other models will get the system in the near future thanks to over-the-air updates or model year changeovers.
