{
  "patent_number": "US 12737744",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How a Car Can Pay for Things Using Secure Short-Range Communication",
  "original_title": "Connected car as a payment device",
  "summary": "This patent describes a system where a car acts as a payment device, using a very short-range wireless link from exterior hardware to securely send a tokenized credit card number to a payment terminal.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent details a method for a vehicle to make payments. It involves selecting a stored financial card or account from the car's main display, called a head unit. To ensure security, the system transmits a 'tokenized card number'—a scrambled, unique code for your card—to a point-of-sale (POS) terminal. This transmission happens over a very short-range link, meaning the car must be extremely close, like within a few inches or feet, of the payment terminal. This secure, short-range communication is handled by special electronic circuitry attached to the outside of the vehicle, which receives the tokenized number from the head unit and then sends it to the POS terminal. For example, a driver could select their preferred payment method on their car's screen, then pull up to a gas pump where exterior circuitry on the car communicates with the pump's payment terminal.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover payments made from the vehicle using long-range wireless technologies like cellular networks or Wi-Fi.",
    "Does not cover payment systems where the secure transmission circuitry is located entirely inside the vehicle cabin.",
    "Does not cover vehicle-based payments that do not use a tokenized card number for security.",
    "Does not cover payments where the vehicle is not within a threshold distance (e.g., one inch to three feet) of the point-of-sale terminal.",
    "Does not cover systems where the vehicle's head unit directly transmits the payment information to the POS terminal without intermediate exterior circuitry."
  ],
  "filed": "2025-11-07",
  "granted": "2026-09-15",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": null,
  "holder_url": null,
  "inventors": [],
  "times_cited": 0,
  "tags": [
    "automotive",
    "telecommunications",
    "software",
    "consumer_electronics",
    "finance"
  ],
  "abstract": "Methods, systems, apparatus, and non-transitory computer readable media are described for using a vehicle as a payment device. Various aspects may include receiving a selection of a stored financial card or financial account at a vehicle head unit. The selected financial card or financial account may be transmitted to a point-of-sale (POS) terminal for making a payment by transmitting a tokenized card number to the POS terminal. The tokenized card number may be transmitted over a very short-range communication link to ensure that the transmission is secure. For example, electronic circuitry may be attached to the exterior of the vehicle, where the electronic circuitry may be within a threshold distance (e.g. one inch, three inches, six inches, one foot, three feet, etc.) of the POS terminal. The tokenized card number may be transmitted from the vehicle head unit to the electronic circuitry and then to the POS terminal.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12737744/connected-car-as-a-payment-device",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12737744/connected-car-as-a-payment-device/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US12737744",
  "relatedPatents": []
}