Samsung and Audi to Begin Rollout of Digital Key Functionality

Select Audi owners will soon be able to use their Galaxy smartphones to lock, unlock and start their vehicles, without needing a physical key.

Samsung Wallet now supports Digital Key for Audi to enable these capabilities, Samsung Electronics said in a Friday (Nov. 15) press release.

The Digital Key functionality for select Audi vehicles will launch this month in Europe and then expand globally, according to the release.

“We’re excited to bring Audi drivers the incredible convenience of Samsung Digital Key, powered by advanced UWB technology and easily accessible through Samsung Wallet,” Woncheol Chai, executive vice president and head of the digital wallet team, Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics, said in the release.

With Samsung Digital Key, users can lock and unlock their vehicles and open the trunk using Remote Keyless Entry and then start their vehicles without a physical key, according to the release.

They can also share the Digital Key over the air or with an interface that lets them grant or disable access as needed, the release said.

If users lose their device that contains the Digital Key, they can use the Samsung Find service to remotely lock or delete the key, per the release.

“This collaboration with Audi is helping to advance our vision of effortless, tech-enabled experiences within the Galaxy ecosystem,” Chai said in the release.

Samsung Wallet is also being used to enable mobile IDs in a growing number of states.

Samsung and biometrics firm IDEMIA said in July that the digital wallet began allowing Iowa residents to store their mobile ID and use it to confirm their identity using their mobile phone at TSA checkpoints at the Des Moines and Eastern Iowa airports, along with 25 other participating airports in the country and other participating businesses.

The two companies also rolled out this capability to residents of Arizona.

In December, Samsung and Mastercard partnered on a program called Wallet Express in the United Kingdom that provides banks and card issuers with an efficient way to expand their digital wallet offerings.

The program allows issuers to offer their customers Samsung Wallet, which allows for various payment methods, including the use of Galaxy wearable devices.