Car IQ

Car IQ offers a contactless in-car payment solution called “Car IQ Pay” for vehicles and fleets. Its platform enables vehicles to autonomously initiate, validate, and complete payments for services such as tolls, fueling, parking, etc. without the need for debit/credit cards or additional hardware. The payment is done via its patent-pending “Know Your Machine (KYM)” technology—a machine identity verification process that allows vehicles and machines to connect directly to payment networks/banks, physical infrastructure, and mobility platforms. KYM is accepted by a number of payment networks and is reportedly the first machine payment network that uniquely authenticates vehicles, facilitating direct vehicle-initiated transactions. Car IQ Pay is claimed to be the first in-car payment solution for vehicles and fleets.

Key customers and partnerships

Car IQ has several service and product partnerships with companies such as digital bank and payments company Discover to build a payment platform for machine-initiated payments for automotive fleets (August 2020); car wash membership platform EverWash to facilitate cardless payment for car washes at EverWash locations (May 2022); toll management and smart mobility technology provider Verra Mobility to offer a toll payment suite for fleet customers (December 2022); software company PDI Technologies to utilize its mobile payment technology to process cardless payments at convenience stores (June 2023); and Visa to enable payment over Visa network (July 2023).  

As of February 2024, Car IQ Pay covered fuel stations nationwide and 98% of toll gates in the US with plans to extend the solution for repair, maintenance, parking, and insurance payments. The technology was accepted at 21,500+ fuel stations across the US including Shell and Sunoco as of February 2023. In January 2024, Car IQ Pay expanded its merchant network to include over 12,000 Exxon and Mobil stations to the portfolio, and partnered with Huck’s Convenience Store in March 2024, to facilitate payments for commercial fleet drivers across 128 store locations of Huck's.

Funding and financials

In February 2023, Car IQ raised USD 15 million in an extended Series B round led by Forte Ventures for further product development to meet the rising demand and to add new commerce categories, including electric vehicle (EV) charging, repairs, registration, and insurance.