SAN FRANCISCO--()--Car IQ, in collaboration with Visa, a global leader in digital payments, has unveiled a new whitepaper showcasing the advantages of vehicle-based payments. The findings, detailed in Cardless Fleet Payments: How Car IQ is Re-Inventing the Fleet Payment Process, emphasizes how this innovative approach is redefining security, efficiency, and cost savings for fleet operations.

​​Fleet cards have been the standard payment method for decades but many come with costly downsides including fraud risks, manual data entry errors, and inefficient transaction tracking. The new whitepaper explores how businesses may benefit from switching to a vehicle-based payment system. The findings show that security and operational efficiency is enhanced when payment credentials are embedded directly into the vehicle for the following reasons:

  1. Reducing Card Fraud and Theft – Traditional, closed-loop fleet cards without EMV technology remain vulnerable to skimming, cloning, and unauthorized usage. Vehicle-based payments, authenticated through real-time telematics data, remove the risk of stolen or misused cards.
  2. Automated, Accurate Transactions – Unlike fleet cards that require drivers to manually input vehicle data, vehicle-based payments take a different approach by validating a unique machine identity that’s attached to the specific vehicle.
  3. Enhanced Driver Experience and Operational Efficiency – Car IQ’s technology automates the payment process so drivers can complete payments without PIN codes and manual approvals, reducing downtime and improving fleet productivity.
  4. Adaptive Security and Compliance Measures – Car IQ’s system performs a series of checks before authorizing transactions, including verifying the vehicle’s presence at the fueling station, assessing tank capacity, and analyzing recent transaction history. This real-time validation prevents misuse and ensures compliance with company spending policies. A featured case study shows that businesses implementing Car IQ’s solution achieved a 13.6% reduction in annual fuel expenses as a result of fraud reduction.

“Fleets are actively seeking smarter and more secure payment solutions, and we are witnessing the enhanced security benefits of vehicle-based transactions that utilize machine identity as a trusted payment credential,” said Veronica Fernandez, Head of Visa Commercial Solutions North America. “Connecting telematics data to spend and transaction data not only provides added security but also offers banking customers the convenience of integrating their vehicles into their banking line of credit. It's a significant step forward in providing innovative and secure financial solutions.”

“We've been working hard to transform the way fleets handle payments, and this whitepaper highlights the real impact of our efforts,” said Sterling Pratz, CEO of Car IQ. “Machine payments are fundamentally different - generating more data before, during, and after each transaction which unlocks new services and controls that simply didn’t exist before. Visa has been an amazing partner in pioneering this new payment channel and we are excited to be sharing these findings.”

Download the full report here: https://usa.visa.com/content/dam/VCOM/regional/na/us/partner-with-us/documents/car-iq-cardless-fleet-payments.pdf

Car IQ is a financial technology company and not a bank. Credit Card Services are provided and issued by Lewis & Clark Bank, Member FDIC.