Pay-at-the-Pump Goes High-Tech in 2018

The video begins once customers starts to fill up their vehicles.

High-tech updates are coming to all Express pay-at-the-pump locations. The new gas dispenser screen, key pad, card swipe and software enhance the customer experience by improving fuel payment options; providing video news, weather, entertainment and promotional spots; and featuring added security for customers and the Exchange.

The dispenser updates will be integrated in three stages:

The first change is the interface for the pay-at-the-pump locations to include key pad, card swipe and video screens. The Exchange will feature marketing content to drive traffic into the Express during a four-minute video loop that plays as customers are filling up at the pumps.

“Around 30 seconds are Exchange sponsored content, while the rest features regional sports, weather, entertainment and news,” said Program Manager Shannon Crawford.

This new video content will provide our “on the go” customers with information about the great deals and offers we have inside the Express. New product launches, combo deals, and MILITARY STAR_® offers are just the beginning of the content that will be provided on this new customer facing video screen.

The second is the point-of-sale (POS) software AX. This new POS platform replaces the legacy systems, merging all food and retail POS systems, and integrates the fuel changes at Express locations.

  The third stage changes how fuel facilities communicate with credit-card companies. “After the software updates, the Exchange will no longer store customer’s credit card information when they pay, like the new pin pads work in the main stores,” said Project Director Alex Real. “It’s called tokenization.”

Tokenization is the collection of card information directly from customers, but in a secure manner because a token is used to represent the customer instead of the actual customer’s actual information.

“If someone breaches our security, there is nothing to steal but a meaningless token,” Real said.

Payment-card industry compliant

Once the rollout is complete in 2018, the Exchange will be payment-card industry compliant well in advance of the mandated date of October 2020.

Pilot locations for the video screens are running at NAS Fort Worth JRB and Fort Hood, Texas. The rest of the 200-plus pay-at-the-pump locations (CONUS, Hawaii, Alaska, Korea, Okinawa, Japan) will take 12 weeks to complete the stage one update.

Europe Region fuel facilities will not be part of the updates since they do not offer pay-at-the-pump.