BMW pays for itself

BMW drivers now have even more reason to wave their car keys about in public. The German maker is working on a revolutionary device that will pay for things like petrol and parking via a tiny chip in the key, linked to the owner's bank account. Petrol pumps and parking meters will be fitted with electronic readers that will take payment automatically when the key is waved in front of them.

The device will save owners time and effort by eliminating the need to queue at petrol stations and find change for parking meters. It could be rolled out further afield, too, with toll booths and train station or airport car parks adopting the system. Public transport users could even adopt it to pay for bus and train journeys.

Raymond Freymann, MD of BMW Group Research and Technology, said: “We are doing research in enhancing the capabilities of the car key into one smart device for access, payment and service that will simplify the lives of BMW car drivers in the future.”

However, it is feared that the system will encourage an increase in car key theft because the system does not require any pin code at present - although BMW claims keys can be 'cancelled' quickly in the same way a stolen credit card can. The key has already been given the thumbs up by the German Federal Office of Information Security - which means it should keep users' bank details as safe as a credit card does.

The clever new key, which was co-developed with Dutch firm NXP Semiconductors, was revealed at a Paris trade show, and looks just like the current 7 Series key with two small antennas on top. It works “in a very similar way to the Oyster card used on public transport in London,” according to an NXP spokesman.

Mark Nichol