Shell is going to let you pay for petrol with PayPal
We’re getting to the stage where it’s going to be incredibly annoying when we’re not allowed to pay for something with our phones, and in a pre-emptive move Shell has teamed up with PayPal to let us use them to pay for our petrol.
The system itself will involve opening up the Shell Motorist or PayPal app on any iOS or Android phone, and then scanning the QR code on the pump. Once the process has been completed a receipt will be sent to your phone and you’ll be free to drive away.
This move comes after a successful trial in a number of Shell garages back in 2015, and is planned to hit “the vast majority” of Shell’s petrol stations in April. At first it will only be available to members of Shell’s Drivers Club programme, but it will become available to the general public sometime later this year.
According to Shell the new system is being put into place because paying for fuel at the pump with a credit/debit card isn’t ‘convenient enough’. I do have to wonder how convenient they think QR codes are in comparison though. Still, if it can actually make it easier to buy petrol, and give QR codes an actual purpose, then I’m all for it.
2 comments
Hats off to shell for coming up with this idea. Being able to pay with a phone is so much more practical than having to slide a debit card and enter a pin. Every gas station should come up with something like this. Pretty soon customers are going to start gravitating toward shell to fill up their tank because of this new method of payment. It just makes life so much easier!
http://fusionofideas.com/detail/2551/custom-app-development-for-businesses
I think scanning a QR Code with an app is still better than using a Credit/Debit Card with a machine. My phone is always more handy than my wallet. From a business point of view also it makes sense as this requires less staff (A Credit/Debit Card payment is still done the old school way in developing countries). A station staff will either ask you to come to the fixed card machine or bring you a wireless one. It is mandatory to enter a PIN and at times to sign the receipt. At times the card machines network will go down. Believe me when I say scanning a QR Code is much better.
Gautam Garg,
Cofounder, Scanova
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