Linq3 announced today that its Play at the Pump™ technology will be supported by Commander Site Controller from Verifone to power the sale of lottery draw games directly at the pump.

Play at the Pump brings the lottery to busy consumers, delivering a fast, convenient and secure way to play and win on-the-go. With a quick swipe of a payment card at the gas pump, consumers can purchase lottery draw games in less than 20 seconds. And with lottery numbers and win notifications delivered to a player’s mobile phone, this new way to buy fits today’s busy, connected lifestyle.

Linq3 and Verifone’s partnership combines the secure payments and commerce expertise of Verifone with Linq3’s solution for on-the-go consumers to play the lottery. Linq3 also has an industry relationships with Gilbarco-Veeder Root.

FMN Editorial Director Keith Reid interviewed David Tucker, Linq3 Vice President of Retailer and Partner Relationships, and Dan Yienger, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Petroleum for Verifone, about the solution and opportunities created with offering lottery at the dispenser.

 

FMN: What is the current availability of lottery at the fueling island throughout the United States?

Tucker: Things are in a very good place now. We have relationships with North Carolina, Missouri, Pennsylvania and California and those states are quite active with lottery at the dispenser, which we call Play at the Pump. It’s a win-win-win for all parties involved which includes the state lotteries, the retailers and the customers. We continue to grow.

 

FMN: What did you see over at VeriFone that prompted you to drive the integration efforts to support this capability?

Yienger: Verifone is highly focused on enabling secure payment acceptance, but we are also looking for new ways to have our clients drive revenue and make the most out of every interaction with the consumer whether they’re inside the store or outside at the pump. From a consumer standpoint, we’re committed to creating a more convenient experience. Some 60% to 70% of all fuel is paid for at the island, so it’s a real convenience when you give the consumer an option to play the lottery at the island as well versus having to go into the store.

 

FMN: What type of lift does a retailer receive by facilitating lottery sales out on the island?

Tucker: There’s two ways to answer that. Going back to the win-win-win for the retailer there is a 5% to 10% lift with the numbers we have documented over the past two years, and that not only includes the island but inside lottery sales as well. Add to that you have ease-of-use, and customer service.

 

FMN: That’s interesting, because a traditional concern dating back to pay at the pump has been such island solutions lessening in-store sales.

Yienger: That tends to be folklore. Many studies have found that if you have the person stopped on your driveway purchasing fuel, they are much more likely to come in the store.

Tucker: As noted, our empirical data support that increase in both inside and outside sales, and in the run-up to the $1.5 billion jackpot in the January/February time frame in one of our partner states we saw 78% increase in lottery sales inside as opposed to those that did not have Play at the Pump. And that is around the awareness issue. As customers are fueling you can paint the images of what the prizes are so there’s constant messaging.

 

FMN: What does this cost a retailer?

Yienger: If a retailer is on our current Commander platform, which is roughly a third of our installed base and the others are in the process of rolling out for various reasons, there really are no additional costs other than having the proper level of software loaded up at the site.

 

FMN: What hardware is required out at the island?

Yienger: The solution is hardware agnostic across virtually all of the pay at the pump  solutions commonly deployed in the field today. The only exception is that there is some very old stuff out there, but anything that has a current, secure payment platform will allow the retailer to offer Play at the Pump at virtually no cost.

 

FMN: How does Linq3 generate revenue through this program?

Tucker: We have agreements with the lotteries, but I’m not allowed to go into detail on those.

 

For more information Play at the Pump visit www.linq3.com

[Editor’s note. Slightly tweaked for accuracy after the initial posting.]