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.

We think about daily journeys from the time we leave home in the morning and when we get back at the end of the day — whether it's tolling, parking, buying fuel, fast food restaurants, it's all a part of your daily journeys, and our goal is to make things a little bit simpler each day," Frieden says on the show.

Don Frieden SHARE IT

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 & SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–P97 Networks, a leader in cloud-based mobile commerce, and Visa’s (NYSE: V) global payment and fraud management platform, Cybersource, today announced a new multi-year global partnership to deliver best-in-class mobile payment acceptance tools with built-in integrated risk management for convenience and fuel retailers. The partnership will scale and expand P97’s PetroZone® cloud-based mobile commerce platform internationally, with first implementations in Asia Pacific, Middle East and North America expected over the next 12 months.

Demand for contactless services has created a surge in mobile and digital commerce. The P97 and Cybersource partnership will accelerate the digitalization of the fuel retail segment with the PetroZone® mobile commerce platform, which enables drivers to have a seamless digital payment experience – from mobile preorder and pay at the pump to contextual marketing and more – minimizing touchpoints at every stop. Cybersource will provide a full suite of payment acceptance, fraud management and value added services to power a more secure, frictionless PetroZone®.

“We are excited to extend the reach and capabilities of our mobile payments platform for convenience and fuel retailers around the world,” said Don Frieden, Founder and CEO of P97. “By joining forces with Cybersource, we gain access to key payment platform capabilities and fraud management, as well as multinational expertise and global relationships that can help us blitzscale our PetroZone® platform in key geographies.”

A recent study¹ from Cybersource shows the overall use of digital channels has increased sixty percent since March. Beyond the demand for digital, a mobile app is cited as one of the most popular commerce features to make the shopping journey more efficient for consumers. PetroZone® mobile app is ideal for fuel and convenience store retailers, as it not only elevates the digital point of sale experience, but minimizes touchpoints which is increasingly important to consumers due to the pandemic.

“Millions of drivers hit the road every day and expect a frictionless and now contactless, commerce journey- whether that is re-fueling or picking up road trip essentials,” said Matt Williamson, Vice President, Global Technology Partnerships, Visa. “Building on P97’s relationships with the oil, fuel and automotive ecosystem, Cybersource brings robust, secure payment and risk management capabilities to drive innovation for the entire fuel and convenience category. A win-win for fuel operators and consumers alike.”

In North America, P97 currently provides mobile commerce solutions for nearly 30,000 major oil branded sites. Together with Cybersource, the two are targeting rapid expansion in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, with both major oil brands and automotive OEMs.

About Visa

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network – enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.

About P97 Networks

P97 Networks provides secure, cloud-based mobile commerce, in-vehicle payments, and digital marketing solutions for the convenience retail, fuel, and vehicle manufacturing industries under the brand name PetroZone®. P97’s mCommerce solutions enhance the ability to attract, engage, and retain shoppers by securely connecting millions of individual mobile phones and connected cars with merchants using identity and geolocation-based software that creates a unique mobile consumer experience. For more information, follow us on Twitter @p97networks or visit www.p97.com.

¹ The Global Digital Shopping Index, Cybersource + PYMNTs, November 2020

Contacts

P97 Media Contact
Aaron Mireles
(281) 954-1706
Aaron.mireles@p97.com

Posted By

Aaron Mireles

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

Contacts