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Posted By

Aaron Mireles

PODCAST HOUSTON FINTECH STARTUP TAPS INTO NEW TECH TO MODERNIZE 'DAILY JOURNEYS'

Before Don Frieden started his company, gas stations hadn’t innovated their payment technology
since 1997. He knew that needed to change.

Original Post | Innovationmap

Before Don Frieden started his company, gas stations hadn't innovated their payment technology since 1997. He knew that needed to change.

P97, founded in 2012, exists to use innovative technologies to simplify and energize daily journeys, Frieden explains on the Houston Innovators Podcast.

The fast-growing company — which has nearly 200 employees, most of whom work from Houston — has raised over $100 million in venture funding, according to Crunchbase, most recently closing a $40 million series C round earlier this year. This funding has supported P97 as its expanded its technology, even expanding outside of gas station payments and into other sectors, like consumer packaged goods, mobile app development, and alternative fuel sources.

Part of what P97 is focused on too is adapting new technologies, including biometrics, and applying them to the payments world. Voice-enabled payments is something in particular that Frieden is working on.

"One of the things we’re most excited about is voice enable payments through our partnership with Amazon's Alexa," he explains. "The landscape of payments at gas stations underwent this next revolution, and we're using cutting-edge speech recognition and artificial intelligence to allow drivers to pay for fuel just using their voice.

"It makes the process faster and more efficient, and is completely hands-free," he continues, explaining that biometrics are also safer compared to card transactions. "From this time I say, 'Alexa, buy gas,' six seconds later, the gas would be turned on and any loyalty rewards I have would be applied, all from the comfort of my car."

Frieden shares more about the future of P97, payments, and the energy industry as it intersects with P97 — including the future of alternative fuels — on the podcast. Listen to the interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.

HOUSTON–(Business Wire)–Chase and Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) have signed a multiyear agreement for Phillips 66 to accept Chase Pay at its Phillips 66®, Conoco® and 76® branded locations across the United States, the companies announced today. 

Phillips 66 joins a host of merchants in signing up to accept Chase Pay, which gives Chase customers an easy, secure and rewarding way to pay for purchases. The fuel retailer is also a key member of the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), a strategic Chase Pay relationship.

To enable Phillips 66®, Conoco® and 76® branded sites to accept Chase Pay at their pumps and in their c-stores, Phillips 66 has also collaborated with Houston-based mobile commerce provider P97 Networks, Inc. and will leverage P97’s cloud-based mobile payment infrastructure.

As a result of these relationships, consumers of Phillips 66’s fuel brands will soon be able to make purchases through the My Phillips 66, My 76 and My Conoco mobile apps of Phillips 66.

“We are excited to work with Chase and P97 to accept Chase Pay at our branded sites, which will offer our customers a simplified fueling experience – one that will enable them to safely and expeditiously purchase our high-quality Phillips 66, Conoco and 76 gasoline on their mobile devices from the comfort of their vehicles,” said Brian Mandell, global marketing president for Phillips 66. “This same convenience will allow customers to take advantage of our reward programs and promotions without having to swipe loyalty cards or use coupons at pumps and registers.”

Phillips 66 is one of the largest fuel retailers in the United States while Chase is the largest U.S. credit card issuer based on loans outstanding. Chase customers have more than 90 million consumer credit and debit card accounts, and nearly 24 million actively use the award-winning Chase mobile banking app.

Chase Pay is live with select online merchants and will be available starting later this year for Chase customers to use at participating merchants’ registers and in apps.

“We’ll work closely with Phillips 66 in enhancing their brand loyalty and making it easier for their customers to buy fuel with their mobile phones,” said Jennifer Roberts, president of Strategic Alliances and Loyalty Solutions for Chase.

“Chase Pay will help deepen the relationship with our common customers by integrating Phillip 66’s loyalty offers and rewards with payments to deliver a seamless experience,” added Tom Nipper, executive director of Global Enterprise Solutions for Chase Commerce Solutions.

About Chase

Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.5 trillion and operations worldwide. Chase serves nearly half of America’s households with a broad range of financial services, including personal banking, credit cards, mortgages, auto financing, investment advice, small business loans and payment processing. Customers can choose how and where they want to bank: 5,300 branches, 15,500 ATMs, mobile, online and by phone. For more information, go to Chase.com.

About Chase Commerce Solutions

Commerce Solutions is the global payment acceptance and merchant acquiring business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Commerce Solutions is a leading provider of payment, fraud management and data security solutions, capable of authorizing transactions in more than 120 currencies. The company’s proprietary platforms provide integrated commerce solutions for allmajor credit and debit card payments as well as mobile payments. Commerce Solutions has uniquely combined proven payment technology with a long legacy of merchant advocacy that creates quantifiable value forecommerce companies. Commerce Solutions processed 42 billion transactions globally with a value of $949.3 billion in 2015, and ranked the No. 1 Merchant Acquirer Worldwide, based on volume, by The Nilson Report in April 2016.

About Phillips 66

Phillips 66 is a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company. With a portfolio of Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties businesses, the company processes, transports, stores and markets fuels and products globally. Phillips 66 Partners, the company’s master limited partnership, is an integral asset in the portfolio. Headquartered in Houston, the company has 14,000 employees committed to safety and operating excellence. Phillips 66 had $50 billion of assets as of June 30, 2016. For more information, visit www.phillips66.com or follow us on Twitter @Phillips66Co.