BMW Teams With MasterCard For Car-Sharing Card

BMW has tapped MasterCard for a contactless credit card that will let users of the DriveNow car-sharing service pay for, unlock and operate a DriveNow car, according to Finextra.

The deal was announced this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but no date has been set for rolling out the program.

DriveNow, a partnership between BMW and German car-rental company Sixt, lets its members reserve a car through an app or website and then get access to it with the app or an ID card. Users are billed automatically; in the U.S., the rate is $12 for the first 30 minutes and 32 cents for each additional minute of driving.

The MasterCard deal means that users won’t need ID or the app once they get to the car for their short-term rental. They’ll identify themselves by holding the contactless card up to a windshield sensor, which will unlock the car and let them start it. The credit-card account will be used to pay for the trip.

DriveNow is available in London, Vienna and five German cities, with the San Francisco Bay Area the only DriveNow locale in the U.S. The service has pick-up points at the San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland airports as well as other San Francisco and Silicon Valley locations. DriveNow is hoping to open up shop in Seattle this year, but is waiting for approval from Seattle’s city council, according to BMW Blog.