Motorway launches industry first payments service for car dealers to drive hassle-free online purchasing from private car sellers

• “Motorway Pay” enables dealers to fund a secure online wallet, and then release money to private sellers instantly once the vehicle is inspected
• The service handles seller bank details, documentation, clearing of finance and instant payment, drastically reducing admin and accelerating speed of transactions
• Free solution makes buying from private sellers easier than ever before, especially in high volumes

Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace, today announced the launch of Motorway Pay – a new solution enabling dealers buying cars on Motorway to fund a secure online wallet and then release money to private sellers instantly to complete transactions. The industry first payment service has been designed to significantly improve the purchasing experience for dealers, making payment for vehicles fast, easy, transparent and secure. 

When buying from private sellers, dealers often have a lengthy process to go through on each individual transaction. This includes verifying documentation, setting up a new seller as a payee and handling finance settlement. With Motorway Pay, dealers can now pre-load their wallet prior to vehicle collection and then use these funds to immediately pay for the vehicle, at the click of a button. Motorway Pay takes care of all of the admin of collecting and verifying documents, setting up payees and confirming successful payment for both parties. This reduces wait time at the doorstep for the dealer and the seller; and immediate payment confirmations bring instant clarity and the necessary paper trail for both parties.

Motorway Pay also handles the clearance of outstanding finance. Previously, dealers have had to settle any finance separately to the seller’s payment. With over 30% of privately owned cars on Finance or PCP plans, this is often an added layer of complexity in the buying process. Now this can all be completed in just one transaction, with Motorway handling the settlement statement confirmation, set-up and confirmation of payment to the finance company. 

The service is free to dealers buying through Motorway, and includes an assurance policy to provide security to dealers that all payments go to the right place.

Initially soft-launched at the end of January this year with a test group of dealers, over 1,000 payments with a total value of over £20m have already been transacted through Motorway Pay, and the company is now starting to roll out the service to all dealers. Participating dealers in the initial test group have reported big savings in admin and time, and a better overall experience for them and the sellers. 

Vlad Radu, Vehicle Procurement and Operations Manager at Carsa, said:

“I’ve used Motorway Pay for over 100 transactions so far and it’s been flawless! Payments are always instant, and sellers are reassured via email confirmation from Motorway. It saves a lot of time for dealers and transport companies. It used to take us about 15 mins per seller and now I’m doing it while on the phone with the driver.”

Over £2bn of purchases have been completed through Motorway in the past 12 months and volumes continue to increase rapidly, with their sales now exceeding 1,000 cars a day on average, including many sales of over 1,500 cars a day in the past few weeks. With this growing volume, making it easy for dealers to buy in bulk has been a major focus for the company. 

James Wilson, Chief Operating Officer at Motorway, said:

“Simplifying the payments process has been high on our dealers’ wishlist for some time, so we are delighted to be able to launch this industry-first solution with Motorway Pay. Removing the hassle involved with paying private sellers has been a hard problem to solve, but we’ve built a powerful, secure and robust solution that makes buying cars on Motorway in high volumes easier than ever before. 

“Having road-tested Motorway Pay in Q1 with a small group of dealers, it’s clear this is a real game changer and a genuine first for the industry. We’re including the service at no additional cost to our dealers – underlining our ongoing commitment to delivering maximum value through technology, and supporting our dealer partners to grow their businesses profitably.

“We’re really pleased that the first phase has been so successful and now look forward to rolling out Motorway Pay across our dealer network.”

Dealers wanting to start using Motorway Pay can apply today to begin the onboarding process, by completing the wait list form here. 

About Motorway

Motorway is the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace. We connect people selling their car directly with our network of more than 5,000 verified car dealers, matching each seller on our platform with the dealer who most wants to buy their car. We help car owners sell their cars 100% online for a great price in as little as 24 hours, with their car collected from home for free, while supporting our car dealer partners to easily acquire the best used car stock.