Troy-based North American Bancard — which markets itself as a one-stop shop for processing credit cards and assorted forms of payments for merchants — would hardly be a business you'd expect to spot at an auto show.
But the car industry is changing lanes as quickly as some drivers on the freeway. In December, for example, General Motors broke big news with the introduction of its Marketplace platform that lets drivers order and pay for their Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts with a simple tap on the dash.
"Marketplace allows customers to order food, find the closest gas station to save on fuel, and make dinner reservations on the go," according to GM.
Drivers of eligible GM vehicles can handle commerce right from their car via the touchscreen.
North American Bancard is touting its own cool technology and wants to grow with the emerging universe of in-vehicle commerce. It's not supplying automakers yet, but took part in the Detroit auto show to make connections.
Marc Gardner, president and CEO of North American Bancard, talked with me at the company's booth at the AutoMobili-D showcase at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
AutoMobili-D, now in its second year, is designed to connect tech startups, universities, auto suppliers and even government officials, putting them in close proximity to automakers. This year, AutoMobili-D ran during press preview days, as well as the first two days of the public show and it included an automotive and mobility career expo.
Gardner sees much potential for voice-activated payments from cars and trucks where you don't even need to pull the credit card out of your wallet or handle your smartphone as you're approaching the drive-through window.
"The friction-less experience could happen. I don't know why it couldn't happen in the next three to five years," said Gardner, who founded North American Bancard in 1992.
North American Bancard, he said, has been focused on providing technological payment solutions and attention toward increased mobility and connectivity.
Not surprisingly, consumers who have learned how to manage their money using their smartphones are expected to be able to do the same with their cars.
The new Digital Drive Report, a PYMNTS.com/Visa collaboration, asked 2,000 commuters about what connected commerce activities they engage in during their daily commutes.
One interesting stat: About 82% of millennials surveyed said they would shop more during their commute if voice-activated technology was available. That was more than twice the rate of other commuters.
Another stat: About 40% of commuters use their smartphone and apps to look for gas while driving.
Currently, about $212 billion is spent by 135 million commuters on coffee, food, gas, groceries and parking every year, according to PYMNTS.com.
Jim Parkinson, chief information officer for North American Bancard, told me that most of the time when someone gets in the car to drive to work, they're going to buy something somewhere en route, as well. He's a fan, he admits, of the Taco Bell drive thru.
Parkinson, who joined North American Bancard in 2016, previously had experience as chief technical officer, chief digital officer and executive vice president of digital advertising with Valassis. Earlier, he worked in senior roles at Sun Microsystems where he was part of the team that built the world's first utility computing platform — leading to the launch of cloud technology.
Parkinson said that consumers increasingly may be able to use their smartphones for more than comparing prices or downloading coupons in a store. In the future, he said, we're likely to see even more opportunities where we can scan the item a place like at a toy store, pay for it via a mobile payment system and walk out the door.
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North American Bancard's payment processing services have expanded and grown over the years to now include providing small business owners, startups and others with the technology needed to sell goods online, process bills and managing inventories.
Support includes point-of-sale systems, managing loyalty programs, providing detailed-reporting tools and fraud detection.
The company's Point & Pay brand enables government agencies and utilities to accept electronic payments from consumers and businesses for taxes, bills and other services using credit and debit cards or electronic checks anytime and anywhere.
Last July, North American Bancard announced it had completed its acquisition of Total Merchant Services in Woodland Hills, Calif., which brought more than $12 billion in credit and debit card transactions annually to North American Bancard.
North American Bancard works with more than 355,000 merchants in the United States and now processes more than $50 billion in electronic transactions annually. The company has more than 1,300 full-time employees in several locations, including Troy.
The company has plans to hire in 2018.Typically, the company is looking for engineers, sales representatives, customer service reps, account specialists. Some current openings are at operations in Michigan, Florida, California, New York and Delaware.
Parkinson told me that he sees many ways that his company's payment technology will be able to find its way into cars.
He personally looks forward to the day when his car could know it's about to need gas and then actually go out and take bids for the lowest prices from gas stations nearby while he's on the road.
"This is my tech dream that I'm working on as we speak," he said. "Why not let the car handle it? Let the car talk to the kiosk and solve it."
Granted, there are some limits to how much shopping we all can do in our cars, especially if we're behind the wheel. But some of that might change as we shift to self-driving cars.
"You don't want somebody shopping at Nordstrom online while they're driving," Parkinson said.
Contact Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com or 313-222-8876. Follow Susan on Twitter @Tompor.
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