Tokai Rika : New Digital Key-Based Unattended Car Rental System

PRESS RELEASE

September 20, 2022

New Digital Key-Based Unattended Car Rental System

- Facilitating Unattended Operations for Rental Car Businesses -

TOKAI RIKA CO., LTD. (Head Office: Oguchi-cho,Niwa-gun, Aichi, Japan, President: Hiroyoshi Ninoyu) has developed an unattended car rental system that enables businesses to operate unmanned rental car services. A trial version is now available.

The trial version will incorporate feedback from rental car businesses and users as part of ongoing development with the aim of releasing the service officially in January 2023.

Background to the Development of the Unattended Rental Car System

With the expansion of our TOKAI RIKA Digitalkey® business, we became aware of various issues faced by rental car businesses. Examples include, the stores must have staffs until late at night when car returns to receive physical keys, as well as the difficulty experienced by these businesses in creating their own smartphone application to help improve customer service, raise store operation efficiency, and reduce the necessary workforce.

Our newly developed unattended car rental system is equipped with all the functions required for unattended operation, including searching for and reserving vehicles, payment, driving license verification (identification), issuing the rental agreement, and locking or unlocking the car using a smartphone. This system simultaneously enhances user convenience while raising operational efficiency and reducing the necessary workforce for rental car businesses.

Main Functions of the Unattended Car Rental System

1. Vehicle search/reservation

Rental car business operator can register the relevant vehicle information (e.g., rental fee and location) in advance with the system, which allow users to search for vehicles and make reservations from the app's map.

2. Payment via the application

Users can pay the rental fee, as well as any fee for extending the rental period using the application.

3. Driving license verification (identification) and issuing the rental agreement

The application is compliant with the Road Transportation Act (e.g., recording of driver's license information and mandatory archiving). Users complete the necessary procedures before picking up the vehicle. Centralized cloud-based management is possible, enabling businesses to eliminate paperwork and achieve operational efficiency.

4. Locking and unlocking using a digital key

The vehicle can be locked and unlocked using a smartphone, dispensing the need to handover physical keys. (No modification is required to the vehicle)

Reference: Visualization of the Use of the Unattended Car Rental System Application