November 19, 2024

Can I Hire a Car With Only a Digital Wallet?

In this ever increasing all digital world there are very few instances these days that actually require you to carry a physical card around –  the most notable exception being car hire. Until today, that is! Here at Indigo Car Hire we’ve teamed up with a supplier that can let you pickup a vehicle with nothing more than just a tap of your phone! Whether it’s Apple Pay or Google Wallet, our new digital wallet car hire options allow you to rent even if you’ve left the debit card at home.

How does Hiring a Car With a Digital Wallet Work? Do I Need Extra ID?

Digital wallet car hire works no differently to a normal debit or credit card rental – literally the only difference being that you pay for both the rental cost and deposit through your phone using either Apple Pay or Google Wallet.

ID requirements are the same as well, you just need your licence and either some proof of address or proof of flights if you are flying in and out. The important thing to note however is that you must contact us for this service first, it’s a very new, specialist option so it can’t just be booked online through the website.

We can also offer this to drivers aged 21 and up, as long as you’ve held a licence for over a year and have no more than 6 minor speeding points. Drivers aged 25 and below will need to have a fully clean licence however.

Where Can I Hire a Car With a Digital Licence From?

Currently, we have branches in quite a few countries across Europe with this deal, here’s a list of the countries we have as of the time of writing:

• Austria
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom

We are always looking to expand further though of course! The branches in the UK are quite exhaustive as well, with pickup locations all across the country. Here are just a few of them below:

Aberdeen Airport	Birmingham Airport	Birmingham City
Bristol Airport	Bristol Temple Meads Station	Cambridge Train Station
Edinburgh Airport	Edinburgh Waverley Station	Glasgow Airport
Glasgow Central Station	Inverness Airport	Leeds City
Liverpool Airport	London Battersea	London Canary Wharf
London Gatwick Airport	London Hammersmith	London Heathrow Airport
London Luton Airport	London Marylebone	London Park Lane
London St Pancras Station	London Stansted Airport	London Stratford Station
London Victoria Station	London Wembley	Luton
Manchester Airport	Manchester Piccadilly Station	Manchester Salford
Milton Keynes	Newcastle Airport	Newcastle City
Nottingham Train Station	Southampton Airport	Southampton Parkway Station

If where you need to hire from isn’t on this table though, by all means contact us as this list as far from exhaustive – we may just have somewhere closer to you.

What Other Services are Available?

Here are just a few of our other specialist services and deals that we can offer in conjunction with this service:

• Debit Card Car Hire
• Low Deposit Car Hire
• Young Driver Car Hire
• Senior Driver Car Hire

How Can I Book a Car If I Only Have Apple Pay or Another Type of Digital Wallet?

Please do not book your car hire reservation via our website if you only have a Digital Wallet as your intended payment method, we work with over 5000 rental suppliers and as you can imagine the terms do vary. Please contact our reservations team we will then ensure we place you with the selection of partners we work with that allows contact less payment, either by phone, Live Chat or email.

And of course if you have any specific questions get in touch. We’re always here to make hiring as easy a process as possible!

Are Digital Driving Licences Another Alternative?

We recently wrote a piece on the prospect of digital driving licences arriving in the UK and the wider world too, making the prospect of hiring a car without a physical licence (be it via a digital wallet or otherwise) even more of a full blown reality.

Alongside the use of digital wallets for hiring a car, it’s likely the very soon, authorised digital driving licenses will also arrive in the UK (and elsewhere) as they have started to in some countries already. This will make hiring a car without the need for a physical driving licence much more accessible for all.