Digital marketing platform CarPay-Diem has big growth plans for Europe. Co-founder and COO Alain Tayenne explains.
In a digital payments world, consumers no longer need to step foot inside a store. That can be a problem for retailers, like fuel stations, which rely on footfall to boost revenue. CarPay-Diem’s business model offers one solution: a digital marketing platform that orchestrates payments.
“We give the possibility for fuel energy providers to augment their sales opportunities, by attracting the clients when the driver is making the payment at the fuel station or electric charging platform, and sending a first marketing message inviting him to enter the shop, make purchases or simply enjoy a coffee,” explains Alain Tayenne, CarPay-Diem COO.
Founded in 2016 and launched in 2017 by Tayenne and Frédéric Stiernon (CEO), both Belgian nationals, the platform is integrated into third party mobile applications, be it banking, roadside assistance, toll payment or other applications with an established community of users. For instance, CarPay-Diem has forged a partnership with online payment processor Stripe enabling it to integrate the Stripe payments function and offer it to users of the mobile app.
With 35,000 active users right now, the strategy is to grow that number to 6.3m by 2025, through leveraging the network of UTA mobility, a cashless billing service currently accepted in 55,000 fuel stations and growing.
CarPay-Diem’s goal is to cover the largest network possible, and the largest net number of either fuel stations or charging poles across Europe. “We welcomed UTA in our equity in July 2020. And at the same time, we’ve also signed a commercial agreement to tokenize the 2.5 million plastic fuel cards that drivers carry,” Tayenne says.
The firm is also developing services to work with the charging platforms on the electric mobility market, even if, as Tayenne says, the possibility to make profit at present remains limited. The COO says: “We are currently in the final stages of a selection of one or two networks that we will connect to and offer the communities in the same way as we let them connect to fuel networks.”
Looking ahead, during the second half of 2022, Tayenne hopes to make progress towards integrating CarPay-Diem’s solutions to connected vehicles. “We’ve made a lot of proofs of concept with the largest car makers […] and now we are talking with OEMs and the financial arm of the carmaker. So, this will happen for sure,” says Tayenne. The firm is also working on a new B2B offer with UTA and truck drivers.
This article was first published in the Silicon Luxembourg magazine. Read the full digital version of the magazine on our website, here. You can also choose to receive a hard copy at the office or at home. Subscribe now.
