Visa, Pizza Hut Announce Connected Car Commerce

New connected car concept combines payment security, cellular and wireless technologies to consumer payments opportunities.

March 06, 2015

BARCELONA, Spain – Visa, Pizza Hut and Accenture announced this week that the companies are developing a proof-of-concept connected car to test mobile and online purchases on the go. The connected car is expected to feature Visa Checkout, cellular connectivity and beacon technology deployed at Pizza Hut restaurants to alert staff when the customer has arrived and is ready to pick up the order. The integration of these technologies is being managed by Accenture.

Visa demonstrated the connected car commerce concept this week at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona. The partners expect to test the connected car commerce experience in Northern California, over a three-month period, starting this spring.

“By 2020 it is estimated that more than 250 million vehicles worldwide will include some form of embedded connectivity,” said Bill Gajda, senior vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships, Visa Inc. “As the number of connected cars on the road increases, so does our ability to bring secure online commerce to consumers everywhere. We initially focused on a specific use case – ordering a meal on your way home – but we envision a world where consumers can seamlessly make many of their everyday purchases from the car.”

The connected car concept combines payment security, cellular and wireless technologies to test connected car consumer payment experiences. While the initial focus is on ordering food at a quick-service restaurant, the technology could also be applied to other consumer purchases including gasoline, transit and parking and drive-thru retail opportunities.

As part of the connected car trial, Pizza Hut will provide in-car access to menus, delivery and pick-up options as well as test in-restaurant beacon technology to notify team members when the customer’s car has arrived.

“We’re committed to offering speed and convenience to our customers when ordering online and this new connected car technology is the latest way for us to do that,” said Baron Concors, chief digital officer, Pizza Hut. “We have the largest suite of mobile apps and are proud to be the exclusive pizza company to offer Visa Checkout, so with our history of innovation, it only made sense for us to be the first to test the beacon technology in cars.”

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