Chinese automotive OS company Banma Intelligence and Alipay have jointly launched an in-car payments system that lets drivers buy tickets, book hotels, and order food using voice commands without needing their smartphones.
Industry-first AI Cockpit Solution with Alipay AI Pay Unveiled
The solution pairs Banma’s Yan AI cockpit platform with Alipay AI Pay, the mobile payment giant’s AI-native payment product. A driver can say something like “help me buy two movie tickets,” and the system selects showtimes and seats; the driver confirms the transaction by voice. Alipay’s fraud detection and risk management tools run in the background on every transaction.
The initial rollout covers entertainment and travel purchases, two categories Banma identified as high-frequency use cases for in-car spending. Banma has completed technical integration testing with several major automotive manufacturers, which plan to include the feature in new models launching in the second half of 2026.
“In the past two years, smart cockpits have achieved rapid advances in perception and decision-making,” said Ming Cai, Banma Intelligence Chief Product Officer. “With large models onboard, vehicles can understand user intent and make recommendations. By integrating Alipay AI Pay into our AI cockpit solution, we are removing the last friction point in the in-car smart cockpit experience — drivers simply speak to pay, no phone required.”
Banma’s scale gives the announcement some weight: the company currently works with 69 automotive OEMs and has deployed its cockpit systems in over 10 million vehicles. That installed base represents a substantial distribution channel for Alipay AI Pay, which has been expanding aggressively since its 2025 launch. By February 2026, Alipay AI Pay had crossed 100 million users, becoming the first AI-native payment product to hit that milestone globally. In one week alone (February 5–11), it processed over 120 million transactions.
The partnership reflects a broader push by Chinese automakers and technology suppliers to differentiate vehicles through software and connected services rather than hardware alone. Intelligence, meaning AI-driven cockpit features, has become a competitive battleground in China’s car market, where EV adoption is high, and manufacturers are looking for ways to retain customers through the in-car experience.
Alipay AI Pay is already embedded in applications ranging from Luckin Coffee’s ordering system to AI smart glasses made by Rokid, giving it experience across very different interface types. The car cockpit represents a natural next frontier: a context where hands-free operation isn’t just convenient, but a safety argument.
