P97 and Visa Collaborate on Mobile Convenience Store Payments

P97 Networks has teamed with Visa to expand its mobile payment offerings for convenience stores.

“This collaboration will help reduce friction with in-car payments, enable EV charging payments across public networks, and further accelerate mobile payment innovation and acceptance,” the companies said in a news release Tuesday (Jan. 31).

The first step in the project is the rollout of P97’s enhanced network token services to connect millions of digital wallets and connected cars “to create highly secure and unique mobile payment experiences.”

According to the release, the two companies will work together in the months ahead to debut a variety of connected commerce experiences, such as payment solutions for electric vehicle charging through public networks and fleet charging solutions.

Ansar Ansari, senior vice president and global head of product platforms at Visa, noted in the release that the partnership showcases the security that tokens provide to auto original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), energy brands and issuers.

“Drivers and consumers that embrace digital payments and mobile apps tend to be more loyal and transact more frequently at the same brands,” said Ansari.

The partnership is happening against the backdrop of a larger transformation in the convenience store sector, as PYMNTS has written.

These stores have been increasingly called upon to digitize the in-store experience, research from “The Instant Payments Transformation Guide: Grocery, Pharmacy And Convenience Retailers,” a PYMNTS and ACI Worldwide collaboration found.

That study, which drew from a survey of 300 U.S. and U.K. retailers, showed that 81% of store owners view access to mobile apps as key to in-store customer loyalty, while 77% said the same about digital rewards and coupons.

The same study found that convenience retailers are disproportionately likely to view scan-and-go technology as a net positive, PYMNTS wrote last week.

For example, convenience retail giant 7-Eleven has offered its own-device mobile checkout for years, initially debuting its Scan & Pay option in 2018 within the brand’s mobile app. The option remains available at participating locations, according to the convenience store chain’s website. During the summer of 2021, 7-Eleven expanded this Mobile Checkout to 3,000 U.S. stores as an option for loyalty program members.

The report noted that 39% of retailers in total believe consumers would be very or extremely likely to switch merchants if they were not offered the chance to scan products and pay without waiting in line. But, for convenience stores, that share is substantially higher. Nearly half (47%) of convenience stores and pharmacies reported believing consumers would make that switch.