Mercedes-Benz acquires Bitcoin payment provider PayCash, further entering the mobile payment industry

Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG has announced the acquisition of PayCash Europe, a bitcoin payment service provider, a move that will further Daimler's involvement in the mobile payments space.

Mercedes buys bitcoin services provider

Daimler AG will integrate PayCash, a Luxembourg-regulated and authorized electronic money transmitter that provides solutions for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, under the Mercedes Pay brand and will use it to launch mobile payment services for Daimler products and services.

Bodo Uebber, member of the Daimler AG Board of Management, said in today’s press release:

“Mercedes Pay is a fundamental part of our mobile and digital strategy.”

He also said the mobile payment option was part of a "plan to make the products and services we offer more attractive."

PayCash describes its business activities as a back-end solution that implements virtual currencies into the existing payment infrastructure through a technical and legal platform, while enabling settlement processing in all major fiat currencies. The company also provides POS terminals that support cryptocurrencies.

Although Daimler did not explicitly emphasize that PayCash’s cryptocurrency tool would be part of its future strategy, such functionality was indeed mentioned in a subsequent press release.

Klaus Entenmann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG Financial Services, said in a press release:

“Mercedes pay will primarily benefit consumers. In the future, consumers will only have to provide their payment details once and will then be able to use a wide range of Daimler services. This will be made possible by the PayCash e-wallet function.”

Other payment products from Mercedes

This isn't the only direct Mercedes product to be brought under the Mercedes Pay umbrella.

Daimler already offers a variety of payment products to consumers, including car-sharing app Car2go and taxi app mytaxi.

Daimler said it plans to use the new payment system to facilitate these and other financial transactions in the future.

The potential market is waiting for the right time

So far, the automotive industry has been relatively quiet about the potential of cryptocurrencies or even blockchain. However, the integration of the payments industry into the automotive industry is accelerating thanks to certain companies, such as Visa.

In addition, last October, Bentley announced an infrastructure that allows consumers to refuel at home using their smartphones, while Cadillac launched a "reservation" service to allow for more flexible model sampling.

While the automotive industry is just taking its first steps toward potential encryption integration, it’s worth pointing out that the potential is already of great interest to consumers.

Across the ocean in the United States, Tesla is leading the way in introducing practical crypto payments for transportation.

Especially in Austin, the capital of Texas, decentralized ride-sharing services such as Arcade City and Cell 411 are showing great potential in the market for the first time.

Meanwhile, in Europe, a number of studies have been released detailing how cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology could bring huge benefits to the automotive industry in the coming years.