U.S. Bank, Driveway Partner on Real-Time Payments

U.S. Bank and online car dealer Driveway have teamed up to pay car sellers immediately with real-time payments.

As the two companies said in a news release Wednesday (March 23), customers selling a car on Driveway.com can now have payments automatically deposited to their bank account when a sale concludes, before the vehicle even leaves their driveway.

Ordinarily, customers would have to wait 24-48 hours to be paid through ACH, or several days if they were waiting on a paper check, the companies said.

With the new system, Driveway customers will enter details about their car and receive an instant quote. If they want to continue, they’ll get an email invite to provide their bank and payment information via a payment portal. Once a Driveway valet inspects the car and the sale is final, the payment is deposited.

The companies said real-time payments will be available to Driveway customers following a pilot, which is underway now in the Portland area.

Shailesh Kotwal, vice chair, U.S. Bank payment services, said the partnership would provide safer and more efficient payments for Driveway’s clients.

“Those selling cars on Driveway.com will benefit from an instant, frictionless payment experience while Driveway will achieve greater customer satisfaction from their innovative payment process,” Kotwal said.

Learn more: Car Shoppers Want Their Online and In-Store Experiences to be in Sync

The program is rolling out a time when car buyers are seeking a much more streamlined experience, as Michia Rohrssen, general manager of Upstart Auto Retail, told PYMNTS in an interview last week.

“Over the last couple of years, we saw that the majority of our not only traffic, but also purchases happened on mobile devices,” said Rohrssen. “So, people are now buying $30,000 cars on their phones — no problem.”

That’s because “mobile has a lot of gestures, so you’re swiping more than just clicking,” Rohrssen added. “It feels more intuitive to be buying a $30,000 car on your phone as you’re swiping to see different vehicles and things like that.”