ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- In the works for over a year and a half, documents attempting to standardize the mobile-payment process at convenience stores and gas stations are gaining greater visibility, now in the middle of a 60-day public-review phase, according to members of the technical body called Conexxus.
Meeting in Annapolis for its annual technology conference, retailer and supplier members of Conexxus, Alexandria, Va., reviewed key elements of the document, which stipulates multiple processes and elements involved in conducting mobile payments both at the pump and inside the store.
The document defines business requirements, describes various use cases or scenarios, outlines “above site” and site-level sequence diagrams, provides technical schemas and lists implementation guidelines tied to the numerous ways a mobile payment can occur at a c-store, according to Wesley Burress, American business support manager with ExxonMobil, Houston, and head of the mobile payments committee within Conexxus.
“It’s a common message set for mobile payment that the vendor community can implement,” Burress told CSP Daily News. “It’s a win for the merchant in that we can be more agile with speed to market for mobile payment.”
The committee’s next step is to integrate loyalty into its new standard, a process set to begin as the Conexxus conference continues through Thursday.
During the general sessions on Monday, retailer Jenny Bullard, CIO of Flash Foods, Waycross, Ga., described the mobile-payment program Flash Foods initiated at the 171-store chain back in 2013. Using the chain’s mobile app, customers can activate a pump using the app and receive a roll-back discount. The system uses an automated clearinghouse process, which in most cases costs less than a credit-card transaction.
She said offering mobile payments via the solution generates loyalty among customers and lowers overall transaction costs.
Other Conexxus committees are addressing issues such as data security, forecourt control, lottery, motor fuels, point-of-sale and back office, electronic payment server and point-to-point encryption during the five-day conference.
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