VeriFone Systems, Inc., and National Payment Card Association (NPCA) introduced a mobile payment and rewards solution that they said will enable convenience store and petroleum retailers to provide customers with smartphone-based payment options at the pump.
The VeriFone and NPCA mobile payments solution will be available for beta testing in November, Verifone and NPCA said.
Utilizing VeriFone’s Smart Fuel Controller and NPCA’s mobile payment solution, convenience-store and gas station operators with VeriFone payment acceptance systems can quickly implement a fixed low-cost mobile payment and rewards program built on existing infrastructure used for merchant branded debit cards, Verifone and NPCA said.
“Consumers are increasingly drawn to rewards-based fuel purchase programs and they expect to be able to use their mobile phone to complete transactions at the pump,” said Dan Yienger, senior vice president and general manager of petroleum for VeriFone.
VeriFone Smart Fuel solutions enable retailers to offer forecourt pump POS payment without incurring the cost of installing new dispensers. The Smart Fuel Controller combines pump and pay-point support into a single unit, simplifying installation and maintenance, and eliminating the need for third-party interface devices to integrate pay-point management with in-store POS systems.
Merchants can develop their own mobile app, or apply their brand to a mobile app supplied by NPCA, to enable customers to pay for purchases and receive loyalty incentives using their smartphones.
“Many consumers today would rather utilize the capabilities of their smartphones versus pulling out their wallets,” said Danilo Portal, chief operating officer of NPCA. “Using this solution, retailers can easily and cost-effectively create mobile loyalty programs that attract and reward high-value customers—without having to replace their existing payment infrastructure.”
NPCA’s debit-based payment programs provide retailers with the ability to drive customer loyalty and reduce the cost of payments. Fuel discounts are funded from interchange savings that retailers would otherwise pay to banks. Payment processing is done by NPCA using the automated clearing house (ACH) system to clear debits to cardholder checking accounts and net settle with retailers each day. The company holds five patents related to the processing and methods for ACH-based decoupled debit and mobile payments.
