Mercedes-Benz customers in Germany can now pay for fuel by fingerprint, with no need to leave the car or enter a PIN or authentication via a mobile device.
The native in-car payment service, Mercedes pay+, is integrated into the MBUX infotainment system and enables Mastercard debit and credit cards with biometric authentication.
The technology allows for transaction data to be encrypted using uniquely assigned cryptograms, in turn protecting sensitive payment information.
A study conducted by German market research company GfK on behalf of Mastercard shows about half of 18- to 39-year-olds would use in-car payment primarily for everyday car-related services and 60% would pay their fuel bill or electric vehicle charging directly via the car.
When a driver reaches one of more than 3,600 co-operating and connected fuel stations in Germany, and switches off the engine, the Mercedes me Fuel & Pay service will start automatically on the MBUX infotainment system. Once started, the driver can simply select the appropriate fuel pump.
The system calculates the total amount based on the current fuel price and the amount of fuel when the tank is full even before refuelling, and the driver completes their transaction seamlessly through fingerprint authentication.
After refuelling, the driver will see the amount of fuel refuelled and the invoice amount on the MBUX display. Payment will be made automatically and the invoice is sent to the customer by email.
“We are pioneers in native in-car payment and are already working on the integration of further services,” said Franz Reiner, chair of the board of Mercedes-Benz Mobility.
The system is not available in South Africa. However, Mercedes-Benz customers are able to use fingerprint recognition as a security measure to operate the MBUX infotainment system, which connects to an owner’s mobile device through the Mercedes-Benz me app.
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