Julius Gregory, Negosentro | A smart car that meets the ever-growing market demand can be delivered in three major ways, namely integrated, embedded, or tethered. Integration occurs when the car is designed with a compatible digital device that can be plugged into a connected mobile device and accessed through the driver’s device while driving, embedding is when the automaker designs a smart car with an embedded SIM for relating with the telematics, while the tethering is when the driver can use his or her own SIM of choice to connect with the digital interface of the car so as to access various controls.
It’s interesting to note that the next generation of cars will be used like robots or smartphones on wheels because they’ll have the capability to communicate with other mobile devices through the multiple sensors and screens loaded on the cars for processing and transmitting data. The late-model cars will have apps that can enable them to make real-time decisions. Although the smart cars can be classified as lagging behind the smart homes technology, automobile manufacturers and big tech companies are struggling to stay ahead of the competition by integrating the vehicle industry with the booming Internet of Things (IoT). Here are some of the ways these smart cars are expected to affect businesses from different sectors.
Facilitating payments
Paying for various services while on commute will become normal practice. The smart car’s can store the profiles of drivers and map all their daily routines and make payments for various services such as a morning cup of coffee and paying for a toll at a drive-thru even easier. You won’t need to fumble for change or pull out plastics to pay for parking garages and gas pumps when the smart car can do it all for you. A team from the U.S. Bancorp hackathon devoted to applications of IoT conceptualized a smart car’s capability to pay automatically for drive-thru orders. Even though a smartphone was used to demonstrate that capability in the hackathon application, the idea of storing the payment credential in the car was validated.
Virtual banking
The idea of virtual banking will be taken to a whole new level when drivers will be allowed to manage their finances and do some degree of banking from behind the wheel. Brian Pearce, from Wells Fargo Virtual Channels, concurs that being able to bank from one’s car is the next big thing. Mobile banking from the car will enable drivers to pay their bills, evaluate and discuss business insurance quotes with insurance companies, transfer money, check their balances and make other simple transactions. The nature of the modern society of the fast paced world makes this technology practically inevitable.
The advent of designing cars that are fully autonomous and making drivers to be passengers in their own cars will eliminate the concern of creating technology-based services that don’t distract the drivers. The driverless cars can enable the drivers to perform very complicated transactions and host important meetings from the comfort of their cars while their cars drive them to work. Several businesses and banks are dedicated to improving the experience of human drivers.
Underwriting and financing
A larger percent of loans and leases from banks goes to consumers in the American society. This is a business model that has helped various auto lenders, dealers and banks make a lot of money. The near future, therefore, lies in the shared mobility of resources with the advent of the smart cars. Automakers such as Ford, Hyundai, and Cadillac have launched ownership models on a pilot program to enable potential customers to own their first cars.
Although these trends may affect lenders negatively, the future of driverless cars and smart cars could provide new business opportunities for businesses in other sectors. For example, the connected car with a touchscreen interface can enable the car owner to arrange to finance the smart car on the dealer floor.
