Sunshine Gasoline Distributors has partnered with Liquid Barcodes to help customers cut down on transaction fees with a C-StorePay app that streamlines the payment process for consumers.
“The real value comes into play if the consumer pays with ACH (automated clearing house),” by reducing the transaction fee to about 0.5% from the 2.5% credit card processors typically collect, said Saurabh Swarup, general manager for North America at Liquid Barcodes in Fairfax, Virginia. The company is a global provider of loyalty and payment programs.
While Swarup said it’s up to the retailer to decide whether it will accept credit cards on the app, Sunshine Gasoline is encouraging consumers to link their checking account numbers to facilitate ACH transactions.
The app has other benefits for consumers and retailers who want to consolidate several purchases, such as gasoline, car wash, snacks and beverages, into one transaction, he said
The retailer can pass on the percentage of savings to the consumer. The size of the discount provided to the consumer is up to the retailer, he said. The discount offered becomes an incentive for consumers to use the frictionless payment app, which also holds the receipt for the consumer and also can push out marketing messages for car wash or other purchases, he said.
“Currently the customer journey is you will get out of the car, choose the payment option, insert the card, the ZIP code, then the nozzle is released,” Swarup said. This often takes 10 to 12 seconds.
Liquid Barcodes’ payment app shaves time off of the gas-filling process by allowing consumers to choose the pump number, select a fuel grade number and release the nozzle, without having to insert a credit card, ZIP code or other information.
Sunshine Gasoline Distributors began using the app in December, Swarup said.
“We always wish to give a little extra to our customers; we offer them time savings, cost savings and convenience with an opportunity to quickly fuel up, pay and be on our their way,” said Eddy Alvarez, owner of Sunshine Gasoline Distributors, which has a network of over 400 sites.
- Sunshine Gasoline Distributors is No. 20 onCSP’s 2022 Top 202 ranking of the largest c-store chains in the U.S. based on store count.
Liquid Barcodes offers the app to c-stores through a licensing agreement, Swarup said. “We charge a licensing fee,” he said, and the company uses a subscription model.
The company, which has offered the technology in Europe since the early 2000s, entered the U.S. market in 2018 with Circle K, Swarup said. The system also can be used with credit cards, debit cards and bank information. “From a payment standpoint, we’re agnostic,” he said. “If there is a preferred payment method, the retailer gets better discounts and is able to pass on the savings to the consumers.”
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