Chris Ballinger, former finance chief at Toyota’s innovation hub, launched a non-profit that aims to turn cars into rolling wallets able to autonomously make and receive payments in a virtual currency.
Drivers would earn small sums for sharing data on everything from traffic congestion to weather and be debited for infrastructure use and contribution to pollution.
“Everyone is excited by the promise of technology and waiting for the first killer app, for what will be to digital currencies what email is to the internet,” Ballinger says. “That is, where does it get used in a way that consumers find it adds value compared to existing payment systems, and we think mobility and machine-to-machine payments are likely to be one such area because we have big issues with funding public infrastructure and charging for congestion and carbon.”
Read the article at Bloomberg.