MasterCard and BMW introduce a contactless credit card than can unlock a vehicle

At the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), BMW and MasterCard have jointly presented a contactless MasterCard credit card that can be used to hire, unlock and operate a BMW or MINI vehicle from the DriveNow car- sharing fleet. BMW and MasterCard are continuing to cooperate on the development and introduction of this new smart mobility solution.

DriveNow, the car-sharing service by BMW and Sixt, is a premium mobility service from the BMW Group and one of the biggest car-sharing operators in the world, with more than 2,800 vehicles and more than 350,000 users in the USA, the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria. „One reason for DriveNow’s success is simple access to the car fleet: all that is required is a smartphone app or PC and an ID card.”, according to bmwblog.com.

Following a one-off registration, customers can reserve BMW and MINI vehicles from the DriveNow fleet simply by using a smartphone app or computer. They can then access a DriveNow vehicle by identifying themselves with an ID card or the smartphone app. Billing is automatic and by the minute, based on a fixed scale of charges. The DriveNow smartphone app also provides users with directions to the vehicle they have reserved.

The new generation of BMW Group MasterCard credit cards will offer a further way of accessing any vehicle in the fleet. The card is fitted with a chip that supports NFC (Near Field Communication – a wireless standard for short- range data transmission). The credit card then becomes not just a means of cashless payment but also a remote key. As soon as the card is held near to the sensor in the windscreen, the system identifies the user and unlocks the vehicle. Since the user’s identity was already checked when the credit card was issued, identification with an additional ID card or the smartphone is no longer required.