Bidvest Car Rental has unveiled what it calls South Africa's first keyless car rental fleet with the introduction of their app, Snappdrive.
According to the company, Snappdrive allows users to book a car and locate it via their phones' built-in GPS, free of any queuing and human intervention. Once customers have found their vehicle; they are able to unlock and start their vehicles without a physical key.
This is done by pressing the 'unlock' button on the app. To start the engine, users simply press the Start button. They receive an SMS reminder when the car is due back, the car rental company elaborates.
"When we embarked on our re-branding strategy, we saw it as an opportunity to be seen as even more professional, innovative, entrepreneurial, streamlined and helpful, because 'every minute counts' is not just an attitude; it's an appreciation that efficiency is a key driver...
"Our mobile devices are changing how we live, have made new things possible and created a new market place where customers now want us to come to them. We have therefore decided to shift our service forward into the future, making what we do easier, smarter and simpler," says Paulette McGhee, CEO of Bidvest Car Rental.
The app, which has been in development for about a year, will be rolled out in two phases according to Bidvest. For the first phase, the service will be available only to Bidvest's Car Rental Corporate customers and deployed in a separate vehicle group at the four major locations; OR Tambo, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and King Shaka airports.
Phase two will be introduced to premium vehicle groups and other markets with some great value add functionality. The company has opted to launch with basic functionality and then roll out in quick phase updates.
"Bidvest is able to track every vehicle. We will be able to collect real-time data on speed, mileage and fuel usage," says Wayne Mee, Bidvest's project champion.
The app, which went live yesterday, is available on Apple's App store and the Google Play store.
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