CDK launches Pay By Link contact-free payment solution

By Matt de Prez

12 October 2020

CDK Global has launched Pay By Link, a new contact-free payment solution for dealers that enables customers to pay for cars or services while maintaining social distance.

Launching as part of CDK’s new ePayments suite of tools, Pay By Link enables dealers to send a link via email to a customer who then pays in the comfort of their own space using a computer of mobile device.

Joaquim Croca, VP commercial at CDK, said: “We want to support our customers and help them operate in the best way possible within today’s challenges and restrictions. CDK ePayments is letting us do that. It’s a solution that allows dealers to deliver great service whilst respecting social distancing. In a wider context, as part of our Connected Systems group of tools, it’s another step towards our goal of digitising processes across dealerships to create a streamlined paperless experience for sales and accounts teams.”

CDK ePayments integrates with a DMS and matches payments to invoices, which means there is less reliance on manual processing and the margin for error is diminished and inconsistencies reduced.

The new Pay By Link system has been trialled by Steven Eagell, across seven of its sites nationally.

Paul Parsons, aftersales director at Steven Eagell, Milton Keynes, said: “CDK’s Pay by Link option is giving our customers peace of mind, which is key for them – and for us. They can agree a price and pay remotely, then come and pick up their vehicle when they want, safely and quickly, with minimal contact. Given that social distancing measures look like being place for some time to come, that’s a huge advantage for the business. And our accounts teams across multiple sites are finding their processes are much faster and more efficient, thanks to the DMS integration.”

Pay by Link will be followed by Card Port Integration in Q4 of 2020. This will integrate and record all instore payments directly into the retailer’s DMS. The CDK ePayments trio of features will be completed in early 2021 with Accounts Reconciliation, designed to bridge the gap between processing, invoicing and taking payment.