Fueling Savings at the Pump

Sam’s Mart Corp., based in Charlotte, N.C., selected Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s Passport as the POS system for 31 of its Shell-branded stores.

Of the 31 stores, most are located in the Atlanta area and all have Gilbarco fuel dispensers. Sam’s Mart cited Passport’s intuitive and intelligent touchscreen, as well as ease of use and shortened consumer transaction times, as reasons for their selection.

In an unrelated announcement, Greensboro, N.C.-based Gilbarco reported it recently certified an electronic-funds-payment service from National Payment Card of Boca Raton, Fla., for use with its Passport POS system. The electronic-funds-transfer service enables consumers to associate their driver’s license or existing membership card with a bank account so it initiates payment at the pump or inside the store through the federal Automated Clearing House (ACH) system.

The Passport interface to the electronic-funds-payment service enables transactions directly from a consumer’s bank account, removing the need for credit- or debit-card networks to be involved in the process.

Transactions processed directly through ACH cost the retailer less than those processed through credit-card networks. Theoretically, the savings in processing fees could be passed from the retailer to the consumer in the form of discounted fuel, which in turn could become a competitive advantage for the retailer.