Digital Transactions reported that PDI, Professional Data Solutions Inc., which provides software solutions for payment services in the convenience store market, signed an agreement with EG Group, a convenience store and gas-station operator with 1700 store fronts in the U.S under various brands including Cumberland Farms, Turkey Hill, Kwik Shop, Loaf ‘N Jug, Tom Thumb, Quik Stop, Minit Mart, Fastrac, and Certified Oil. While this sounds like a run-of-the-mill partnership announcement, the deeper implication is that this may signal growth in the private label debit card market.
A quick refresher: Private label debit, sometimes referred to as decoupled debit is a card or an app that processes a point of sale payment using the purchasers’ checking account as the funding source, but using ACH, not the card rails to move money.
Here’s more on the deal from the Digital Transaction article:
The agreement builds on PDI’s existing relationship with EG America, EG Group’s North American division, by expanding use of PDI’s payment technology beyond EG America’s 562 Cumberland Farms c-stores. Alpharetta, Ga.-based PDI, which currently provides technical and customer account support for EG Group’s SmartPay loyalty and rewards platform, began servicing Cumberland Farms in 2020 after acquiring Zipline, a provider of private-label debit payment services for convenience stores. Cumberland Farms launched the SmartPay app in 2013. The deal for ZipLine enabled PDI to add payments capabilities to its Marketing Cloud Solutions offering.
Consumers enrolled in EG America’s SmartPay loyalty program can earn up to 10 cents off per gallon, free food and beverage items, such as breakfast sandwiches, coffee and fountain drinks, as well as other rewards. The Smart Pay app also enables contactless purchases in-store or at the pump.
We’ve seen significant consumer adoption at the locations where we’ve implemented our SmartPay program,” Mohsin Issa, founder and co-chief executive at EG Group, says in a prepared statement. “We’re excited to extend our partnership with PDI so we can quickly offer this valuable service to an even larger segment of our loyal customer base.”
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
