Here’s how you can turn your car key into a credit card!

DS, Citroën’s luxury car brand, has hit upon a novel new use for the key fob — making it double as a contactless payment card.

Simply tap it on the screen of a card payment terminal and it can be accepted, just like a normal credit or debit card for any transaction of £30 or less. Users can add money to the key via a smartphone app and because it uses an integrated chip plus Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), it’s just as safe and secure as any current European payment card.

“At DS we’re always looking at how we can credibly complement our customer’s active lifestyles, where staying connected and being able to easily interact with the world is key,” said the company’s UK marketing director, Mark Blundell. “With the DS contactless payment car key, we really feel we have achieved this.”

The payment card key will come as standard equipment for anyone who purchases a new compact DS3 Connected Chic model throughout September and DS will be monitoring consumer sentiment in order to decide if the key should become a standard DS feature in the coming months and years.

And as smart as the key fob is, it is simply the latest digital idea …read more