Real-time payments platform Volt has partnered with Bumper to help car dealerships utilise the power of open banking.
Volt announced the partnership with the payments platform for car dealerships, Bumper, at a time of record car sales in the UK. Sales have been reported to be at their highest since the Covid-19 pandemic, as last year the industry experienced a 5.5% YoY growth in Q3 2023.
Recently It has been a busy time for the real-time payments platform as Volt appointed Irina Chuchkina as its first Chief Marketing Officer this month and entered into a partnership focused on tracking the environmental impact of payments, with ekko.
Currently, the integration is available in the UK and will launch in more European countries at a later date. The partnership brings open banking payments to customers of over 5,000 dealerships throughout the UK, including manufacturers such as Audi, Ford, Porsche and Volkswagen.
Richard Drury, VP of Partnerships at Volt, said: “For car dealerships, the payments process has been a major challenge and our solution is a real asset in alleviating those challenges many dealership owners are facing today.
“We’ve created a perfect solution for Bumper, with the initial results and quick adoption proving that it resonates with both buyers and sellers. There’s huge potential for real-time payments to take off in the automotive industry, so this partnership was a no-brainer for Volt.”
As part of the partnership Volt will power Bumper’s ‘Pay Now’ function, facilitating automotive payments as dealerships receive the benefit of instant settlements that are tracked in real time.
The deal hopes to eliminate slow settlement times, a ‘key pain point’ for dealerships, with faster settlements allowing firms to gain greater control over their cash flow and inventory, which also reduces the risk of non-payment or system errors.
In addition, the integration allows checkout flow and pay-by-link options, helping to digitise dealerships as it looks to offer a mobile-first experience.
Jack Allman, CCO and Co-Founder at Bumper, commented: “The move to Volt as Bumper’s Open Banking payment provider will have a huge impact on functionality for our partnered dealerships and their customers, providing them with a frictionless account-to-account payment experience.
“This new partnership enhances our open banking infrastructure with increased functionality including settlement accounts, real-time notifications and refunds. These developments will increase operational efficiency and automation across all users, whether they work in accounts, sales or service.
Allman concluded: “Additionally, Volt’s global payment network facilitates Bumper to roll out our Open Banking product across Europe in the near future. We’re incredibly excited to have launched this next phase of our Open Banking platform and can’t wait to see the increased value this new iteration will bring to our partners.”
