Valeriia Babiak
- Dec 1, 2021
- 3 min read

Pay-per-wash revolutionises the car wash industry

Updated: Dec 3, 2021

WashTec, the world's leading manufacturer of car wash facilities, is entering the Pay-per-Wash business by sealing a strategic partnership with linx4 to offer its customers this revolutionary financing option and to advance the scaling of this new business model. Through this cooperation, WashTec customers will benefit from maximum flexibility and risk outsourcing.

Vienna, on Day Month, 2021: Matthias Bertoldi, Managing Director of WashTec Cleaning Technology GmbH, and linx4 founder Paul Bruckberger announce their recently fixed cooperation. The producer of car wash facilities and the fintech want to overcome investment hurdles in the industry with their new Pay-per-Wash offer. This is because the new financing model will enable car wash operators in the future to repay investments based on utilization per car wash.

Sophisticated, data-based overall package as a sales turbo

Being able to offer a utilization-based and thus flexible financing option is an increasingly important selling point for machine producers, accelerating customers' investment decisions. However, previously this meant a lot of extra effort in terms of resources and know-how in the background, as Bertoldi summarizes:

"We already recognized our customers' needs in recent years and looked for solutions on our own. In linx4, we have now found an innovative and competent partner with a mature product that will enable us to roll out the new model on a large scale."

Linx4, the innovative and internationally respected fintech based in Vienna, offers its cooperation partners everything from a single source. From machine software to the POS financing tool "Click & Finance" that makes it easy for sales staff to process financing requests, calculate financing options and conclude contracts.

"Linx4's financing package has convinced us on several levels at once," explains Bertoldi. "It increases both our sales competence and our sales efficiency, and on top of that, it offers us—a joint stock corporation—a balance sheet-neutral way to sell our machines."

Bruckberger explains furthermore: "We're buying the machines through a machine fund. As a result, the plant no longer appears on the manufacturer's books. In addition, our cooperation partner receives the full sales price immediately."

Pay-per-Wash as a Gamechanger for the industry

Fluctuations in utilization have played a decisive role in investment decisions not only since COVID-19. Especially when, as in the car wash business, sales fluctuate strongly due to weather conditions and seasonal fluctuations. This is because conventional forms of financing do not differentiate between flourishing and less flourishing business phases— they ask for a constant installment repayment, which can lead to massive budget burdens for the car wash operator. Pay-per-Wash takes these fluctuations in utilization into account and is, therefore, a real gamechanger! This is because the buyer does not pay a fixed credit rate, but rather a flexible usage fee, depending on the degree of utilization of the machine. On top of that, this also has positive balance sheet effects according to IFRS.

Such a new approach is made possible by Internet-of-Things technology, which collects and analyzes data from the car wash facility and automatically calculates the Pay-per-Wash price. As a bonus service, consumables and maintenance costs can also be co-financed and re-orders and machine maintenance can be automatically triggered by depending on IoT data.

Thanks to a well-engineered data pool in combination with a sophisticated calculation, linx4 can do what no one else can: take over a utilization risk of up to 75%. Without term extension, without follow-up financing, and thus significantly better than any leasing.

About linx4

The Austrian financing company focusing on pay-per-use financing for industrial machinery and equipment operates in more than 20 European countries. linx4 offers flexible, utilization-based point of sales (POS) financing for machine manufacturers (OEMs) to strongly increase sales of equipment and after-sales services. The pay-per-use financing is based on a unique industrial IoT (IIoT) and AI risk management solution that allows of an up to 75% utilization risk to be assumed by linx4.

About WashTec

WashTec is the world's leading provider of innovative vehicle wash solutions. Over 1,700 employees in more than 80 countries are shaping the future of the car wash business. WashTec products, processes and solutions offer operators and end customers the best results and experiences, constantly setting new standards in the global car wash business.

Linx4: Your one-stop solution for Pay-per-Use financing.

For any information, please contact our Head of Sales - Lara Hubmann.