Chevron to Integrate Apple Pay at Gasoline Pumps in Early 2015

[Buran]

http://www.mcx.com/images/merchants/quiktrip.jpg QT is part of MCX so don't them expect Contactless support anytime soon, but you never know at some point down the road. @BigJayhawk The Home Depot is not part of MCX, but their competitor Lowes(http://www.mcx.com/images/merchants/lowes.gif) is. Also some Chevrons do support Contactless at the pump, but most don't.

It is not my concern what associations a store may belong to. It is my concern that they are not taking my security seriously and that no stores selling this product seem to be taking that security seriously. That is a point that I make in my messages to merchants when I request NFC support along with the fact that they would be wise to realise that their customers are not the unthinking walking wallets they want to see us as.

 

[AlecZ]

Seriously???

Apple pay uses NFC. How do you expect the car to do NFC?

If they add support for something besides NFC for payments. Either that or a reader that you drive within 20cm of.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Very POOR management on the part of chevron that they don't have a detailed timeline (of course they do) to release to the public (of course they could).

That they can't release and commit is so dam amateurish it's laughable.

And to the chevron types that are reading this and chuckling because I don't know "the special reason" (probably the catch all "proprietary and or competitive purposes") that the company won't put a public stake in the ground you are brainwashed too.

A leader announces plans and timing and then delivers on both.

By shipping stickers to your stores to put on the pumps which say "Pay at this pump by Feb 14 2015. Chevron, What's Not to Love?" Chevron could steal a march on its competition and begin to gather and prepare customers planning to use Pay.

By the way Chevron be careful not to squander and blow your first-mover image, but in Meijer is already accepting Pay at their gas stations.

Instead of running the toot the horn louder make a big deal out of it playbook, Chevron is diminishing its impact by mealy mouthing around. Apparently gasoline marketing is special.

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By the way , I did a little survey in east Switzerland, west Austria, and Liechtenstein. What I found was that a large number of key merchants are NFC equipped and that Pay functions. In some NFC locations that had previously worked with Pay it didn't work for larger sales amounts, maybe amounts over 50$, but certainly over 100$. Some places have pay wave which the phone responds to but is limited to MC which I don't have (just visa and amex).

But near exclusively*, none of the gas stations here have NFC readers. Amazing how an industry that asymmetrically moves prices to fleece its customers is so poor at making capex into its physical sales locations.

* BP in Switzerland seems to have NFC in the store but it seems limited to pay wave cards.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Cue the people who say don't say "Cue the people..."

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My Shell Gas station in Tokyo was literally un-manned. It was 11 pm the pumps all worked but there was no one there. I could not believe it. All I could figure was that there was someone remotely monitoring the station somewhere else and had a kill switch if he needed it.

It say a lot about Tokyo doesn't it.

After the destruction of the Godzilla attacks in the 1960's (I've seen the old newsreels), I imagine Tokyo doesn't worry too much about a trivial gas station fires.

(By the way, I still recall the two white gloved Tokyo policemen directing pedestrians around some (already well marked and barricaded) minor construction site about 10 years ago. Was kinda surreal in its overkill.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Nope.



Well, as my post has shown I'm from Germany and self-checkout pumps aren't common over here at all.

Fair point though.

Still think it might hit their margin a bit (?), but all I can do is speculate.

Glassed Silver:ios

Re self checkout, here in Switzerland it is possible after hours to pay and pump, this feature has been around so long that most of the terminals still accept payment with printed notes. Either a single pump is designated for this service or there is a central payment console that can authorize most pumps in the larger stations. I thought this type of unattended out of hours payment system also existed in Germany.

 

[Jambalaya]

Interesting as in Europe you are not allowed to use your mobile in a petrol (gas) station due to it being a fire risk.

Re pay-at-pump with a bank card this is standard in France at pretty much all petrol stations and is quite common in the UK too.

 

[Robert.Walter]

See this is one of the reasons why I hate my car. I hate putting gas during winter, going in to pay, and going out to then go away. And I don't pay with my cards either because they pre-load like $150 on them.

Whining about a credit authorization that never hits your statement?

My pa would have said "kinda guy that would even complain if hung with anew rope!"

 

[MH01]

Looks like a good publicity move by chevron. Companies must have clued onto the fact that Apple users would be silly enough so buy thier services cause they offer apple pay, it's a huge win for them.

If people are prepared to switch where they shop based on Apple pay being offered, wow, it's just NFC guys.... hmmm that 1984 Apple commercial eh.....

 

[kemal]

The Magnetic Strip CC Must Die

The old fashioned 80 year old grocery store here takes Apple Pay. The clerk was just as surprised to see it work as I was!

If a store that helps you pick out apples before bagging them can do it, there is no excuse for anyone else.

 

[Alon1]

Nice! No more paying inside for fear of credit card skimmers on the pump.

 

[JHankwitz]

Until that first explosion at the pump... That would be interesting. I don't know if it's rumor or not... Those vapors seem pretty dangerous to me!

Say what? What, pray tell, on an iPhone could possibly ignite gas fumes?

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Snopes or not, petrol stations in Australia state that mobile phones are not to be used around pumps.

They likely do that to prevent them from being distracted and do something stupid like miss the hole or something. I've never had the opportunity to use an Australian gas pump.

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S(he) is referring to the fact that in Oregon (and NJ, still?) you are not allowed (by law) to touch the pump or pump your own gas... which would appear to mean that you will have to hand your iPhone to the Gas Pumping Professional so (s)he can execute the ApplePay transaction for you.

Do you actually have to touch the pump or something with your phone to make it work? I thought it worked near-field.

 

[JHankwitz]

One of the little recognized benefits of Apple Pay is that you do not need to handle the thermal paper receipts. Most thermal papers have a coating that contains BPA, which is a suspected mutagen and teratogen. A wallet or purse full of receipts has the potential to be a major source of exposure - and one that we can now avoid with Apple Pay.

Do you really think that touching a paper receipt containing BPA that you are put at some sort of risk? The key part of your comment is "suspected", because they have been unable to prove it is a problem after many years of testing and studies. I judge Science Fairs every year, and every year there is at least one student with a BPA project showing that there is no evidence one way or the other. It's like the "suspicion' that cow farts are the main cause of global warming. No one has been able to provide evidence one way or the other.

 

[caesarp]

Interesting as in Europe you are not allowed to use your mobile in a petrol (gas) station due to it being a fire risk.

Re pay-at-pump with a bank card this is standard in France at pretty much all petrol stations and is quite common in the UK too.

Is using NFC and holding a finger on touch ID the same as "using your mobile". Or is using your mobile only a phone call? I think that's what people mean when they talk about phones at gas stations. Its not checking your email, etc. or using apple pay -- Its making phone calls.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Seriously???

Apple pay uses NFC. How do you expect the car to do NFC?

It could happen with Apple tying in to such devices as EZPASS and the such; or creating their own transponder system. Add ApplePay to CarPlay to EZPay (my word for the transponder) and it would open up so many opportunities for tolls roads and service stations.

Such a system would here in the DC area prevent us from being sued by the new robber barons like TransUrban that operate private toll roads on the behalf of the state. If the transponder did not read, you get a notice on your iPhone - so you can save yourself from being sued for thousands of dollars like some are in Virginia.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

We don't pump our gas in Jersey... we pump our fists

But seriously, I doubt people would want to give their phone to the pump attendant to pay.

Most gas stations that I've seen are self service. I've seen pump attendants at a few really busy stations where they really need you in and out as quickly as possible, but I can count on a single hand the number of those I've seen (3 within a few hundred miles of here.)

 

[vpndev]

No self service in Jersey? In my town in Canada they just got rid of the last Full Serve station. It's an issue for people with limited mobility.

New Jersey is full-serve ONLY. No self-serve allowed.

 

[AppleScruff1]

They will have my buisness for sure!

Even though they have higher prices? That's incredible.

 

[vpndev]

A couple of interesting thoughts:

- Exxon has had "SpeedPass" for a few years now. It's RFID with a special tag you can attach to your keys. Has anyone tried an iPhone 6 at the reader on the pump?

- with pay-at-the-pump, you provide your card BEFORE pumping and it's authorized up-front. But Apple Pay seems to be for a specific amount, and I'm not sure if it can authorize the same way that a swipe card or PayPass/payWave card (NFC) does.

- the deadline in the U.S. for merchants to accept chip cards (a.k.a. EMV cards) is next October. But for gas pumps it's October 2017. The next-October deadline is what's driving the replacement/upgrade of POS terminals - with most including NFC when they do - but gas stations have an extra two years (at the pumps).

 

[mrjr101]

Perhaps it's the future for some but not me. All my UK credit cards have a 'touch to pay' chip integrated into them yet I've never had an urge to use this option. Chip & Pin suits me just fine.

My 'Android phone' has had this tech for some time too.

Seems to be the case the U.S. are quite some way behind Europe with CC security and Apple have seen an opportunity to cash in and play catch up.

I think you missed the memo. Apple did not simply "catch up", they blew out of the water the useless chip technology that you have in your credit card by implementing something more secured and easy to use.

 

[diamond.g]

A couple of interesting thoughts:

- Exxon has had "SpeedPass" for a few years now. It's RFID with a special tag you can attach to your keys. Has anyone tried an iPhone 6 at the reader on the pump?

- with pay-at-the-pump, you provide your card BEFORE pumping and it's authorized up-front. But Apple Pay seems to be for a specific amount, and I'm not sure if it can authorize the same way that a swipe card or PayPass/payWave card (NFC) does.

- the deadline in the U.S. for merchants to accept chip cards (a.k.a. EMV cards) is next October. But for gas pumps it's October 2017. The next-October deadline is what's driving the replacement/upgrade of POS terminals - with most including NFC when they do - but gas stations have an extra two years (at the pumps).

Bolding mine. They would just pre-auth between $50 and $175 (depending on card type) before you pump. Then charge you the amount you actually use. Just like they do when you swipe your card at the pump now. When you go in you usually tell the teller how much you want put on the card and if it is too much they just print out an updated receipt.

 

[mrjr101]

Even though they have higher prices? That's incredible.

Not much of a difference in prices. I prefer to pay an extra 5 cents for Chevron gas which is a better quality gasoline than the cheap one across the street that would clog your engine system in no time. And now with ApplePay it would make it more attractive to pay for gas here

 

[luigiBoschin]

Wireless ecosystem

Until that first explosion at the pump... That would be interesting. I don't know if it's rumor or not... Those vapors seem pretty dangerous to me!

We live in a wireless ecosystem surrounded by radio and microwaves from cell towers and phones in the pocket that constantly communicate with towers even if you do not talk on the phone.
The reality is that those vapors that are vacuumed by the pump anyway are never going to be lit by a cellphone!

 

[luigiBoschin]

Hmmm, I don't know about the US, but here in Germany gas stations basically only earn the serious money on their shop items, not the fuel they sell.
So if those spontaneous purchases of magazines/etc (granted, not the late-night purchases where people deliberately drive to a gas station) are out of the equation, this might hurt their bottomline, no?

Fuel isn't something you buy because it looks nice, you need it.
Sure, this gives Chevron an edge over other gas stations, just thinking aloud here...

Glassed Silver:mac

Nobody is going to stop those motorists from going into the shop and use Apple Pay inside the gas station

 

[ptb42]

Whining about a credit authorization that never hits your statement?

If you have a credit card with a sufficient credit limit you aren't using, that's not a problem.

But, if you use a debit card, it effectively locks up the authorized amount until the transaction clears. You can't spend the remaining amount (authorized amount minus the actual transaction amount). If you have limited funds in your account, that can be a problem.

It also affects pre-loaded gift cards. Once, a restaurant charged the wrong bill to mine. I pointed out the error, and they had to start a new transaction for my bill. The authorization for the wrong bill didn't expire for 30 days, so I had to wait until then.

Hotels and car rental agencies pre-authorize significant amounts over the expected bill. They explicitly warn people about it, and suggest they use a credit card when checking in, then use their debit card to check out.

 

[MasterRyu2011]

Meh..not too excited unless it will support NFC for self-checkout. I don't normally go into the actual store to get anything. I always feel weary of swiping my card at the pump with all the fake readers being installed everywhere.

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If you have a credit card with a sufficient credit limit you aren't using, that's not a problem.

But, if you use a debit card, it effectively locks up the authorized amount until the transaction clears. You can't spend the remaining amount (authorized amount minus the actual transaction amount). If you have limited funds in your account, that can be a problem.

It also affects pre-loaded gift cards. Once, a restaurant charged the wrong bill to mine. I pointed out the error, and they had to start a new transaction for my bill. The authorization for the wrong bill didn't expire for 30 days, so I had to wait until then.

Hotels and car rental agencies pre-authorize significant amounts over the expected bill. They explicitly warn people about it, and suggest they use a credit card when checking in, then use their debit card to check out.

That's why credit cards > debit cards on so many levels. I used to be a debit card user, and I have seen the light.