IBM and Visa turn automobiles, appliances into points of sale

IBM) and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) announced the industry’s first collaboration that brings the point of sale everywhere Visa is accepted, by allowing businesses to quickly introduce secure payment experiences for any device connected to the Internet of Things (IoT).
The collaboration brings together IBM’s Watson IoT platform and cognitive capabilities, with Visa’s global payments services that are used by more than 3 billion consumers globally. IBM’s Watson IoT Platform allows businesses to connect to billions of connected devices, sensors and systems around the world and then draw actionable insights. The platform is used by more than 6,000 IBM clients that are helping customers connect to millions of devices.
IBM and Visa share a vision and commitment to embed payments and commerce into any device — from a watch, to a ring, an appliance or a car. Under this collaboration, companies can infuse secure payments across their entire product lines using the Visa Token Service, a new security technology that replaces sensitive payment account information found on payment cards with a unique digital identifier, via IBM’s Watson IoT platform.
As a result, IBM and Visa could support payments and commerce on many of the 20 billion connected devices estimated to be in the global economy by 2020.
“IoT is literally changing the world around us, whether it’s allowing businesses to achieve unimaginable levels of efficiency or enabling a washing machine to ensure we never run out of detergent.
And behind this transformation are companies like Visa and technologies like IBM’s Watson IoT platform,” said Harriet Green, general manager, IBM Watson IoT. “This combination of IBM’s industry leading IoT technologies with Visa payment services, signifies the next defining moment in commerce by allowing payments on any connected object, with new levels of simplicity and convenience for everyone.”
Consider the consumer’s car. Experts estimate there will be 380 million connected cars by 2021. As the car ecosystem connects to the Watson IoT Platform, a driver would be alerted when the car’s warranty or certification is about to expire or if specific car parts need replacing.
With this information, the driver can order parts with the push of a button, or schedule a service appointment at their preferred local garage. The driver could even pay for gas through a direct interaction between the car and the gas pump.

Source: Arab News