The advancement towards a cashless society took another step forward on Tuesday when petroleum giant BP, in partnership with Absa Bank, announced the introduction of an automated tag system which allows customers to refuel without the use of cash or a card and have their Absa account simultaneously debited.
The BP FuelMaster Express system, where a tag containing a microchip that electronically identifies you at the BP FuelMaster pump, has given over 400 000 Absa customers access to a smartcard system that is available at more than 480 BP stations nationwide. However, while the card itself is fast and free, a customer still has to have a garage card initially.
BP FeulMaster has been operational since 1995, when BP started a similar agreement with Standard Bank. However the concept was only offered to fleet operators at the time and later extended to private motorists in 2002.
The petroleum group is planning to secure partnerships with First National
Bank and the Nedcor Group in the near future. BP retail and marketing development manager Vusi Cwane said that despite a recent surge in the number of customers using this system, penetration is still low. He added that customer numbers are expected to explode in the upcoming months.
At this stage the product is really catering for a niche market, but Cwane says that plans for extension are underway.
“We are looking at how we can extend this to debit card users and over the next few months we are hoping to be able to offer this service to customers wanting to use Excel garages too.”
Cwane added that extending the use of the card to be able to pay for goods at their own convenience stores should be done within a year.
Other petrol groups have offered similar fueling options, but this fully automated system offered to the private consumer is a first. Cwane said that the extent of their success will probably determine how quickly other groups follow, but added that it is unlikely that competitors would catch up within the year.
While the tag saves time and cuts out all paperwork, helping counteract fraud, there is the question of stolen cards being used by others, as there is no need to sign.
BP retail alliance manager Fabian Bessick said that if a tag is stolen the customer just phones the bank, as one would with a stolen card, and the bank then hot lists that tag, preventing its use.
Bessick said that further security feature is that a card can only be used to a maximum of 250 rand at a time and only up to three times a day. – I-Net Bridge