Another day….another mobile pay app for your smartphone. Gulf Oil will be piloting Gulf Pay at gas stations and C-Stores across selected Northeastern U.S. markets in the next few months. According to the following article, the app contains integrated features for drivers to find, pay, and receive marketing offers.
Customers at Gulf Oil fuel stations across select New England and New York markets in the US are to pilot a new mobile payment service that will enable drivers to navigate to the nearest station, pay for fuel at the pump, receive exclusive offers and purchase products inside the convenience store.
Gulf Pay is powered by mobile payments at the pump provider P97’s PetroZone mobile commerce platform, and will provide special deals on both fuel and in-store products at participating locations, allowing customers to tailor in-app preferences to fit their specific needs.
The company has also signed an agreement with Mastercard to accept the Masterpass digital payments platform through the app, and plans to “expand the Gulf Pay app by teaming up with leading mobile wallets and technologies. The pilot program will launch at Gulf retail fuel locations throughout select New England and New York markets in the first half of 2017 with plans to extend the app’s availability into additional markets in 2018,” Gulf Oil says.
“The Gulf Pay app offers a convenient, secure and seamless shopping experience for customers by allowing payment authorization directly from the comfort of their vehicle. Users can also use the app to locate the closest Gulf station, access live pricing and reliable directions and view station offerings.”
“Gulf plans to expand the Gulf Pay app by teaming up with leading mobile wallets and technologies. Gulf has signed an agreement to partner with Mastercard and will accept Masterpass through the app. This partnership will further improve offerings, capabilities and the payment experience for Gulf and Masterpass customers.”
Gas station and C-store mobile apps have seemingly reached a saturation point, although there are significant differences among the current players, especially relating to the type of payment options and integrated features. Gulf Pay starts off with a strong feature integration and partners with Mastercard’s digital payment platform Masterpass. Interestingly, Gulf Oil was formerly owned by the large regional gas station/C-Store operator Cumberland Farms. Cumberland sold the Gulf petro division in late 2015, and started their own mobile pay app and carries their house-branded gas. Watch for introductory discounts and bonus offers from Gulf Pay as a way to ramp up their customer base to compete in a very crowded market.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Associate Director, Research Services at Mercator Advisory Group
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