NXP and Car Maker BMW Create World's First Smart Car Key

Imagine that you've run out of gas, you're pulling at the nearest gas station, but you suddenly realize that you've also forgotten your wallet at home. What's to be done? Abandon your vehicle in a shady neighborhood or in the middle of nowhere? Well, if you're driving a BMW, then you probably won't have to worry about such a scenario in a few years’ time, since the German car manufacturer and NXP Semiconductors have just announced the joint development of what really seems to be the world's first car smart key.

According to the companies' statement, the prototype features contactless payment, personalized access control, and advanced functionalities including public transport e-ticketing. The device uses NXP's SmartMX security chip, thus allowing drivers to perform quick, secure and convenient electronic payments with a car key. This way, in the future, car owners could employ such a device for a wide variety of transactions, such as general shopping, paying for gas, public transport, parking and road tolls, thus replacing the need for cash or additional cards.

Commenting on the two companies' joint announcement, Marc de Jong, executive vice president, business unit automotive and identification, NXP Semiconductors, declared that "Together with BMW, we are underlining our global leadership in remote key-less vehicle 'entry and go' and contactless identification, by delivering a compelling contactless application that will continue to drive innovations in smart card banking and the automotive industry."

Featuring smaller antennas than standard smart cards, NXP’s SmartMX P5CD081 series features an integrated dual-interface chip ensuring that the credit card application is compliant with the most advanced security standards. Furthermore, the fact that it features a fairly compact design makes it particularly suitable for a wide variety of form factors.

"The transformation of a car key into a credit card goes beyond the limitation of traditional payment possibilities and is a natural evolution to improve car owners' payment experiences. Innovative smart card solutions from NXP provide the security, the flexibility and the performance to support the growing industry demand for different form factors in payment applications, such as car keys, key fobs, watches or Near Field Communication-enabled mobile phones, to enhance the lifestyles of consumers," de Jong added.

Unfortunately, there's no info, at least for the time being, regarding the actual moment when the first BMW owners will be able to enjoy these products, but there are certainly quite a lot of people who can't wait to get their hands on such a device.


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