Connected Car services provider Parkopedia and Valtech Mobility, a supplier of connected services, have partnered to provide vehicle-centric digital services to drivers.
They say the deal combines Parkopedia’s extensive parking, charging and payment processing expertise with Valtech Mobility’s app creation, integration and backend development experience.
This agreement sees Parkopedia and Valtech Mobility – a joint venture of the Volkswagen group and the digital agency Valtech – work together to best support drivers in finding and paying for some of the most commonly requested vehicle use cases – parking, charging, fuelling and road tolls.
They say together they offer an end-to-end service for automakers that covers the complete in-car transaction process, from individual point of interest data, to user registration and payment processing, enabling automakers to offer a frictionless in-car commerce experience.
Parkopedia adds that the new partnership means that vehicles with the associated software fitted will benefit from integrated in-car services that simplify and heighten the driving experience. This is achieved by providing accurate parking, charging and cost information, along with Parkopedia’s integrated Payment Platform that makes it possible to pay for services without having to exit the vehicle or pull out a smartphone.
“Thanks to this partnership, auto manufacturers can benefit from a quicker and easier process of supplying parking and charging data together with in-vehicle payments for services such as fuelling and road tolls,” they explain in a statement. “This will offer a deeper integration with in-vehicle systems and sensors superior to a detached white-label app-only offering, and enable automakers to tailor the user experience to suit their individual drivers.”
The standard format enables the Parkopedia and Valtech services to be accessed within Google Automotive Services (GAS) – with other environments to be added in the near future – which can be accessed through voice commands to ensure the greatest ease of use for drivers. Parkopedia and Valtech Mobility both have global reach, operating across Europe, North America, China and Japan, among other markets.
Markus Dohl, Parkopedia’s VP of Sales & Business Development Europe, said: “Parkopedia prides itself on simplifying everyday vehicle-based tasks for both automakers and their drivers. This partnership with Valtech Mobility enables us to provide an integrated end-to-end parking, charging and payment solution to an even greater audience.”
Norman Palmhof, Business Director Valtech Mobility, added: “Already during the first workshop we could see that our teams and portfolios complement each other very well. We are very pleased to have found a partner in Parkopedia that has similar ambitions to ours and the ability to deliver consistently excellent data quality even at such scales.”
(Picture from promotional video, courtesy Parkopedia)
