GM, Mastercard Want Your Car to Pick Up the Tab for That Latte
- In-car payments to make real-world debut as soon as this year
- Lagging infrastructure, mobile-payment headstart are hurdles
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Most consumers have yet to figure out how to pay for their daily lattes using their smartphones. But that hasn’t stopped automakers from adding digital wallets to cars, too.
In-car payments, long just a pipe dream on the research floors at big automakers, are finally ready to make their real-world debut. Honda Motor Co. showed off a prototype at CES 2017 in Las Vegas earlier this month that lets drivers pay for parking or gas without ever reaching for their credit card. General Motors Co. and Kia Motors Corp. may offer a similar feature as soon as this year. And Volkswagen AG purchased PaybyPhone, a provider of parking-meter mobile payments, in a deal last month.