Today, Apple is celebrating Apple Pay’s 10th anniversary with some great announcements. The vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet also gave a new interview and talked more about the car key side of Wallet. Here’s what we learned about the company’s car key plans.
Looking to the future of car keys
The Points Guy today published an interview with Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s Vice President of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. This includes a section dedicated to Apple’s ambitions for car keys and a growing list of partners.
Written by Zach Griff point guy:
Apple is also working with more than 30 automakers (and that number continues to grow) to create digital car keys in Apple Wallet.
For travelers, Bailey said, this last point actually bodes well for good things to come, and that digital keys could one day be a key element in enabling contactless car rentals.
“Being able to book a rental car and verify your authentication and identity allows you to imagine the rental car company issuing you a digital key that you can use to unlock and use your car.”
Bailey didn’t elaborate on this future use case for rental cars, but it certainly seems like it’s a priority for the Apple Wallet team.
Currently, there are only eight manufacturers whose vehicles Apple supports with car keys. So hearing that Apple is actively working with more than 30 partners in total is a good sign for future expansion.
Of course, that expansion could someday lead to great integration with the car rental process.
Bailey’s teasing of the possibility of car key rentals could mean we can expect meaningful progress on that front before long. It’s clear that Apple isn’t preparing an official announcement yet, but this preview makes it seem like we won’t have to wait too long for at least some news.
Do you think car keys will be in more vehicles soon? What about rentals? Let us know in the comments.
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