KT to Form Connected Car Commerce Consortium

KT to Form Connected Car Commerce Consortium

By M.H.Lee, The Korea Bizwire, Nov. 15, 2017

The new initiative from the South Korean IT giant will see a number of credit card companies including Lotte Card, BC Card, Smartro and the energy company E1 work together to create a connected car payment system. (Image: Kobiz Media)

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – KT is set to form a consortium between credit card companies for a connected car commerce project.

The new initiative from the South Korean IT giant will see a number of credit card companies including Lotte Card, BC Card, Smartro and the energy company E1 work together to create a connected car payment system.

Connected car commerce is a payment system in which consumers can make a payment through their vehicle, be it at a docking station, gas station or a takeout restaurant, without having to carry a physical card.

The five companies signed a business agreement on Wednesday at the KT Gwanghwamun Building, signaling their joint commitment to the development and commercialization of a connected car payment service.

As part of the agreement, the companies will be working together with the goals of car payment service scenario planning, joint technology research and development, infrastructure improvement for the commercialization, as well as marketing and promotional activities.

The new consortium is expected to roll out its services at E1’s charging stations first, then extend the payment infrastructure to other offline stores and create online content.

Affiliates of the new project will be offered a Differential GPS-based automatic payment service from KT’s technology center.

KT is expected to rely on the payment platform and infrastructure of its card affiliate BC Card to support its first connected car commerce service.

Lotte Card will also offer an automatic payment service from within a car, using the DGPS technology, with plans to introduce various other services including one where drivers can order and receive products while remaining in their vehicle.

“We plan to incorporate the new payment system into our car infotainment system, along with voice recognition and artificial intelligence technology, getting more closely connected with the company’s comprehensive payment platform,” said KT’s Kim Hyung-wook.

Kim Chang-kwon, the head of Lotte Card, said, “Using the network of Lotte Group affiliates, we hope to present a more developed form of connected car commerce technology in the future.”

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