Motorists will soon have access to a smart card-based operation that provides a fully automated refuelling and payment system, designed to be quicker, easier and more efficient than cash or garage cards.
British Petroleum (BP) and Absa are rolling out the FuelMaster Express system - originally developed to fulfil a need in the business-to-business fleet management market - for consumers.
Vusi Cwane, BP`s GM for retail marketing development, says the concept was designed to combat fraud in the fleet management industry and to speed things up for businesses, but the company soon realised that it would work equally well for the everyday motorist.
"Motorists can fill up and go, there`s no cash needed, no signing of transaction slips and no waiting for attendants. In fact it is completely paperless and secure."
FuelMaster Express links a client`s Absa garage card account to a personalised smart tag, containing a microchip, which electronically identifies the customer at the BP FuelMaster pump. All the details of the transaction are automatically transmitted directly to the relevant account.
The system is already in operation with about 480 BP service stations countrywide, and Absa expects the concept to be embraced by more than 400 000 customers in the near future.
Fabian Bessick, BP`s retail alliance manager for method of payments, says the tag also has the technological capability to support other applications which are being investigated and, if feasible, could further benefit consumer convenience.
"Potential future applications include using the tag to pay fees at tollgates and to earn credit points in the BP Express shops, to name just two, but there is a lot more in the pipeline in terms of this technology.
"We are committed to constantly pushing the frontiers of growth, progress and convenience. This is certainly not the end of any sort, this is merely the beginning of the future."
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