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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.

DULUTH, Ga. – October 18,2017 – NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), a global leader in omni-channel solutions, has unveiled its new NCR Mobile Payments solution at the NACS Show, the leading convenience and fuel retailing event held in Chicago from October 17 to 20. The cloud-based solution enables fast mobile transactions for a variety of mobile wallets and card schemes, allowing retailers of all sizes to offer their customers greater payment flexibility without having to install new hardware.

The solution is built on P97’s PetroZone® platform, one of the industry’s most mature end-to-end mobile payment platforms in the United States. It ties directly with the NCR RPOS and EPS point of sale solutions to enable fast and easy indoor and outdoor mobile payments at gas stations and convenience stores around the U.S., and eventually around the world.

“This landmark agreement with NCR enables us to stay ahead of the innovation curve and offer customers convenient mobile payments, both inside the store and at the pump,” Don Frieden, founder and CEO of P97 Networks said.

Retailers can either integrate the NCR mobile payment solution into their existing mobile app, or use the solution’s capabilities to build their own app and add additional features such as location finder, digital marketing promotions, and product information.

“P97 has long been an innovator in this space, and together we are helping retailers provide a new customer experience by integrating payments, loyalty programs, and contextual marketing all in one solution that appeals to today’s mobile users,” Tom Chittenden, vice president and general manager of retail solutions at NCR said.

The platform accepts a long list of payment methods including traditional card networks: Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover, mobile wallet providers: MasterPass, ChasePay and ApplePay, as well as leading automated clearing-house services.

About NCR Corporation

NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a leader in omnichannel solutions, turning everyday interactions with businesses into exceptional experiences. With its software, hardware, and portfolio of services, NCR enables nearly 700 million transactions daily across retail, financial, travel, hospitality, telecom and technology, and small business. NCR solutions run the everyday transactions that make your life easier. NCR is headquartered in Duluth, Ga., with over 30,000 employees and does business in 180 countries. NCR is a trademark of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries. NCR encourages investors to visit its website which is updated regularly with financial and other important information about NCR.

Web site: www.ncr.com
Twitter: @NCRCorporation
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ncrcorp
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ncr-corporation
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ncrcorporation

About P97

P97 Networks provides secure cloud based mobile commerce and digital marketing solutions for the convenience retail and fuels marketing industry under the brand name PetroZone®. P97’s Commerce solutions enhance the ability of convenience store operators, marketers, and oil companies to attract and retain customers by providing technology that securely connects millions of individual mobile phones and connected cars with identity and geo-location based software technology to create truly unique connected-consumer experiences. P97’s software personalizes the “find-buy-save” experience for every mobile consumer. For more information follow us on Twitter @p97networks or visit www.p97.com.