U.S. Bank is eyeing embedded payments in vehicles as more technology providers blur the lines between products, services and industries.

Sony and Honda, for example, are partnering to launch the Afeela electric car that serves both as a transportation vehicle and an entertainment hub, the companies announced at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Apple, too, has been working to break into the automotive industry with a vehicle equipped with a fully integrated product suite.

Innovations showcased at CES are inspiring U.S. Bank to integrate embedded payments to its long-standing partnership with German OEM BMW, U.S. Bank’s Head of Applied Foresights Todder Moning told Bank Automation News’ sister publication, Auto Finance News. U.S. Bank offers a BMW-branded credit card with a rewards program with which consumers can earn and redeem points toward BMW products and services.

“Those kinds of hardware and software can make experiences more useful and ambient for folks,” Moning said. “How can we do the same thing with financial services? How can we empower that kind of equipment and software and [artificial intelligence] to be able to make your financial life much more seamless?

“One of the big trends that you’ve seen in banking, obviously, is the way that financial services are getting embedded in every manner of experience in other industries. For us, they’re almost like new channels,” he said. “How do we expose those APIs to help our partners like BMW and our customers to be able to get the financial services support that they need without having to exit that experience.”

U.S. Bank has been attending CES for the last 10 years to get inspiration from innovators outside of financial services, Moning said. The bank has also been utilizing consumer vehicle data to improve sales.

U.S. Bank has a managed auto portfolio of $23.2 billion, according to its Q3 earnings report.

Editor’s note: This article was first published on Bank Automation News’ sister site, Auto Finance News. 

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