Mercedes Buys Bitcoin Service Provider in ‘Digitization Strategy’

Saw this headline this morning, here are some cool snippets regarding bitcoin, blockchain, cars, and technology.

" Mercedes owner Daimler AG has announced its takeover of PayCash Europe, a provider of Bitcoin payment services alongside others, in a move that will see the corporation venture into mobile payments. 

Mercedes Buys Bitcoin Services Provider

PayCash, which also offers solutions  for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, is a Luxembourg-regulated licensed  e-money transmitter. It will be used by Daimler to launch mobile  payments for Daimler products and services under the Mercedes Pay brand. “‘Mercedes  pay’ is a fundamental component of our mobility and digitization  strategy,” Bodo Uebber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG  commented in a press release  Tuesday. He added that mobile payment options were part of a plan “to  make the products and services we offer even more appealing.” 

 PayCash describes its activities as a “backend solution providing the  technical and legal platform to implement the virtual currency into the  existing payment infrastructure and enables payments to be processed in  all major fiat currencies.” The company also provides  cryptocurrency-supporting POS terminals. While Daimler does not explicitly  highlight PayCash’s cryptocurrency acceptance tools as a part of its  future strategy, this function is nonetheless mentioned in the  accompanying press release. “‘Mercedes pay’ will mainly benefit  customers who, in the future, will only need to provide their payment  details one time, in order to be able to use a range of Daimler’s  services. This is made possible by the eWallet function, a virtual  source of payment,” Klaus Entenmann, Chairman of the Board of Management  of Daimler Financial Services added. 

Potential Market Lies in Wait

There has so far been little noise from the automotive industry  regarding the potential for cryptocurrency or even Blockchain use to  spark change. However, the trend of integrating payments with automobiles is being accelerated by the likes of Visa, for example. Additionally, Bentley announced in October a facility offering customers at-home refueling from their smartphones, while Cadillac launched a ‘booking’ service for more flexible sampling of its models. While the automotive industry takes  its first steps in regard to potential crypto integration, it is worth  noting that the potential already exists in terms of consumer interest. 

 Across the water in the US, Texas is leading the way in introducing crypto payments for transportation on a practical level.  In Austin especially, decentralized  ride-sharing services such as Arcade City and Cell 411 are the first in a  market which demonstrates huge potential.  In Europe meanwhile, extensive research  has already been published detailing how cryptocurrency and Blockchain  technology could be used for the automotive industry’s benefit in the  coming years. "

Read full article here:

http://bitcoinist.com/mercedes-bitcoin-digitization-strategy/