FIS Drives Mobile Payments at the Pump

Despite the constant rumors of the electric car revolution, Americans will keep driving cars coast to coast, which gives financial services companies a great opportunity to bring gas station payments into the next generation.

Banking and payments processing consulting firm FIS announced yesterday (Oct. 27) that it had secured a partnership with SAP to optimize payments for drivers fueling up at gas stations across the country. Through integration with SAP’s cloud- and vehicle-based systems and FIS’ mobile pathways, drivers will be able to use their phones or their sufficiently equipped car consoles to pay for their purchases.

Bruce Lowthers, executive vice president of North American retail payments at FIS, explained that the technology that his company is applying to the pump may soon expand to other industries as well.

“As a global leader in next-generation payments platforms, retail payments and mobile solutions, FIS is poised to deliver technologies and assets that will modernize retail payment acceptance,” Lowthers said in a statement. “Our FIS Mobile Payment Enablement Gateway will help facilitate mobile payments for retailers in multiple market segments such as gas stations, convenience stores, parking garages and restaurants, as well as emerging markets such as unattended kiosks. FIS remains committed to leading mobile payment technology solutions and enabling frictionless commerce experiences between consumers and retailers. This technology agreement with SAP is an important step in that process.”

Zilvinas Bareisis, a senior analyst at Celent, pointed out that m-payment tech is already in place at many gas stations.

“With the growing acceptance of mobile payments by consumers, it’s only natural to expect rapid merchant acceptance of contactless, cloud-based fueling across North America in the next few years,” Bareisis said.

The announcement from SAP and FIS represents the latest brick laid in the wall of mobile methods in the pay-at-the-pump world. According to Statista, only 1 percent of customers used a mobile payment method when fueling their vehicles in 2013, though more behind-the-scenes collaborative partnerships like the FIS and SAP deal may help create an attractive payments ecosystem that customers can’t resist at least trying out.

To check out what else is HOT in the world of payments, click here.