Car key of the future with integrated credit card

BMW Group Research and Technology has developed a prototype for a
multifunctional car key which enables cashless payment and personalised vehicle
access. "As part of our research project we first integrated a security chip
into the key casing, which communicates across short distances by radio with a
card reader," says Hans-Jörg Vögel, project manager at BMW Group Forschung und
Technik. In future the key could also be used for other transport systems.
Indeed, electronic tickets for bus, train and air travel could all be stored on
the chip. The credit card function in the security chip allows electronic
payments to be carried out quickly, securely and conveniently from the
prototype key.

Adding a personalised credit card function to the car key opens the door to a
wealth of other mobility scenarios. For example, the holder of the key can
enjoy secure in-car access to personal data since the key gives the driver
authorised online access to his personalised ConnectedDrive services inside a
BMW - not only when he's travelling in his own car, but also from a BMW hire
car, for example. Here, the driver identifies himself using his personal key
and the car adopts his individual settings. Access to personal data such as
address books, favourite radio stations and personal subscriptions to services
and content providers is activated through the multifunctional key.

Because the driver can be identified with total certainty, the key can now -
for the first time - be linked to the car owner rather than any particular car.
This also makes hiring cars and car sharing, for instance, even easier.

"With the concept of integrating a cashless payment function into a car key, we
are working on ways of linking up vehicle technology and lifestyle," says Prof.
Raymond Freymann, Director of BMW Group Research and Technology.

BMW Group Research and Technology is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BMW AG and
has been responsible for research at the BMW Group since 2003.
VehicleTechnology, CleanEnergy (hydrogen technology), EfficientDynamics
(intelligent energy management/alternative drive systems), ConnectedDrive
(driver assistance/active safety) and ITDrive (IT and communications
technology) activities all come under its aegis. Its legal independence as a
GmbH (limited company) ensures creative freedom and unbeatable flexibility.
Worldwide access to trend research and technologies is provided by an
established international network with bases in the USA (Palo Alto, CA and
Clemson, SC) and Japan (Tokyo), plus Liaison Offices in France with Eurécom
(Sophia Antipolis) and in Germany in the shape of the German Research Center
for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI GmbH) in Saarbrücken.