Tired of having to get out of the car in the middle of winter to pay for gas? Thanks to a new partnership between PayPal and Shell, payments for filling up can now be done via smartphones, sources from both companies announced.
The new payment partnership, set to roll out this April for Shell Drivers’ Club members before a full national release later this year, is said to provide greater convenience and flexibility for drivers, according to Computer Business Review. Drivers will drive up to pumps and select the kind of gas as well as pump location using the Shell mobile app and a QR code on the pump itself. Once the payment is processed, a receipt will be sent to the phone to confirm the purchase — and to prevent people from making off with a full tank of gas at no charge.
The technology was successfully trialed by both companies in 2013, while PayPal has already established a strong mobile payments process in the United Kingdom.
The deal with Shell represents PayPal’s newfound independence from eBay, which was announced last year and will be spun off in full later this year. PayPal’s revenues have increased 19 percent per year, faster than eBay, and with its mobile app now on Blackberry devices, the company is looking to create partnerships with companies like Shell to expand mobile payment software to everyday purchases.
The integration of gas payments into mobile phones also demonstrates how consumers are now getting accustomed to integrating company membership benefits into mobile payment decisions, especially in regards to buying gasoline. Researchers of shopping habits have found that offering incentives in the form of discounts at the pump is a high burn, high reward way of encouraging consumer loyalty for both retail and gas companies.
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