ON Monday, October 15, GB Energy/Texaco — operators of the Texaco brand in Jamaica — will be rolling out an innovative cashless and cardless payment system across its service stations islandwide. The initiative is a partnership between GB Energy/Texaco and Amber Fuels, a subsidary of the Jamaican technology company Amber Group.

The announcement was made at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston last Thursday.

Mauricio Pulido, CEO of GB Energy/Texaco, believes the move will revolutionise the customer experience at the pump as it is much faster than using a traditional bank card.

“It’s a complete automatisation of all our service stations… You’re gonna come in as a customer and the pump attendant will scan your RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) sticker that is put on the windshield. You tell the attendant how much fuel you need, you put in your four-digit pin number in the attendant’s RFID reader, and the money will be deducted from your account. You’ll get a comprehensive electronic receipt in your cellphone of how many litres, the hour, the day, and it will give your history. And you can add as many cars as you want,” Pulido told the Jamaica Observer’s Auto magazine.

Consumers will collect the free RFID stickers from Texaco service stations. They will have to download the GB Fuels app from the app stores and this will securely store their payment details. The move will give consumers a seamless, cashless, cardless payment experience at the Texaco stations while they start earn reward points on every purchase. GB Fuels also has a customer-friendly dashboard on its mobile application, fuel alerts, linked loyalty programmes, and maps to allow you to find the nearest Texaco service stations, adding tremendously to customer convenience.

Pulido said the new system was introduced at its flagship Half-Way-Tree service station a month ago and is getting rave reviews from its customers.

Dushyant Savadia, founder and CEO of the three-year-old Amber Group, highlighted the convenience and security to consumers as some of the immediate benefits.

“Consumers won’t have to worry about their cards being cloned and defrauded while at the gas stations. We’re using an amazing technology that doesn’t even exist in many First World countries, whereby a consumer can just drive into a gas station, buy gas, and drive out. The card is charged automatically… it’s a complete end-to-end encryption as far as the payment is concerned… You can still pay by cash or card. Besides that, you start collecting rewards; every single litre of gas you put in you start earning points, and all those points become money and you can redeem them in the gas station or stores for anything you want,” Savadia told the Auto.

“This partnership with Texaco, one of the world’s largest fuel brands, will give Jamaican consumers and fleets a modern refuelling experience by making their visit to the fuel pump quicker and more secure. At the same time, consumers will be collecting a host of benefits, while fleet owners are offered a complete solution at the pumps.”

The Haitian-owned GB Energy acquired the Texaco downstream operations in Jamaica in 2012 and pays royalties for the Texaco brand.

Jamaica is GB Energy’s second-largest market with approximately 70 service stations. The Dominican Republic is the largest with 140 stations, followed by St Maarten — the Dutch side of the island which is shared with St Martin of France.