Keep your eyes peeled for a new four-wheeled way to make a contactless donation to a major UK cancer research charity. From the end of May, you will be able to tap your credit, debit or Apple Pay device at a very special, one-off car.
Hyundai Motor UK has shown very visible support for the Stand Up To Cancer campaign by creating a special zero-emission IONIQ Electric car. It’s the world’s first car that can gather contactless charity donations.
The IONIQ
The IONIQ has five contactless donation points embedded into it. As it travels around the UK, members of the public can tap their cards and Apple Pay devices onto it, to securely donate to the campaign. They will be able to specify an amount of either £5 or £10.
The jazzy vehicle also features the ultimate personalised number plate as it changes to show a running total of the amount raised by the car.
The IONIQ even thanks each person who donates, as a contactless payment triggers audio and visual transmissions and electronic movements on the vehicle.
Vehicle launch
“The world’s first contactless car” will be launched on May 22nd at a celebration at London’s Kings Cross station. It will then tour the UK up until November 2017.
This will include featuring at various events when the public will be encouraged to sit in the vehicle and take “selfies” to post on social media.
Stand Up to Cancer is a joint campaign between Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 television. The idea to gather donations via a contactless vehicle grew from a trial to equipment the charity’s fundraisers with payment devices alongside their traditional “buckets”. It appears 25% of the donations during the trial period came from contactless payments.
Hyundai has officially said this is a one-off and has no plans to add contactless technology (and constantly changing personalised number plates to any other vehicles.
It is believed to be the first car in the world to collect payments. However, it is not actually the first to employ contactless payment systems. Jaguar has a variation in some of its models such as the F-Pace and XE to send payments outwards, so drivers can pay for fuel in Shell garages via their infotainment.