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.

MELBOURNE, Australia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–P97, the leading mobile commerce platform provider for fuel and convenience retail and automotive industries globally has partnered with Viva Energy Australia, a leading energy company in Australia to launch a custom mobile app, Shell Card Go, for fleet managers and drivers.


Viva Energy supplies around a quarter of Australia’s fuel requirements and is the exclusive supplier of Shell fuels and lubricants in Australia through a retail network of over 1,330 service stations including Shell, Liberty Convenience, and Coles Express. Shell Card is a business to business fuel card, which helps businesses simplify their fuel purchasing needs. Shell Card is available at more than 1,330 service stations across Australia, giving fleet drivers convenient access to high quality fuels wherever their business takes them.

 

P97 Networks is an industry leading mobility services platform and has integrated their technology into five leading point of sale systems across Viva Energy’s retail network, including NCR POS, QuickFuel POS, Beacon POS, EdgePOS and Viva Energy’s outdoor payment terminals. P97 has also integrated into Viva Energy’s Card Management Platform and Fiserv, the payments authorisation host for the Shell Fleet Card. These complex integrations will allow a seamless and consistent experience across their retail network of over 1,200 service stations.

 

Viva Energy selected P97 to design the Shell Card Go app which provides fleet managers and drivers with contactless mobile payments. The app allows authorised drivers to pay for fuel at Shell, Liberty, and Coles Express sites. The app also allows users to locate stations, view site details, earn rewards and easily access their transaction history. In addition, the app allows Viva Energy the ability to interact with their customers with digital marketing through discounts, offers, promotions and omni-channel messaging.

 

“As a leading Australian energy company, Viva Energy aims to provide fleet managers and drivers easy access to fuel stations and contactless payments,” says Ash Harris, Head of Shell Card at Viva Energy.

 

“We believe the Shell Card Go app will not only make fuel payments more convenient for fleet managers and drivers, but also create seamless and secure experiences. We chose to work with P97 Networks because they are a market leader and recognised for their ability to process mobile payments, integrate their technology into complex POS systems, and influence driver behaviour.”

 

“We are honoured to have the privilege of working with Viva Energy,” says Brad Jones from P97 Networks. “By giving drivers and fleet managers the flexibility and ease of mobile payments, Viva Energy will set the new standard for the Australian fuel and convenience retail industry.”

 

About P97 Networks

 

P97 Networks provides a global, cloud based, mobility services platform that enables connected commerce, digital marketing, and consumer engagement for convenience retail, utilities, energy companies, and auto OEMs to align strategies, so they can attract, engage, and retain customers by securely connecting millions of consumers and connected cars using P97 identity, geolocation-based services, secure payments, and loyalty aggregation platform to create new and unique mobile consumer experiences. For more information, visit www.p97.com.

 

About Viva Energy

 

Viva Energy (ASX: VEA) is one of Australia’s leading energy companies and supplies approximately a quarter of the country’s liquid fuel requirements. It is the exclusive supplier of high-quality Shell fuels and lubricants in Australia through an extensive network of more than 1,330 service stations across the country. Viva Energy owns and operates the strategically located Geelong Refinery in Victoria, and operates bulk fuels, aviation, bitumen, marine, chemicals and lubricants businesses supported by more than 20 terminals and 50 airports and airfields across the country.

www.vivaenergy.com.au

Contacts

Aaron Mireles
Director of Marketing
P97 Networks, LLC
E: aaron.mireles@p97.com
P: (281) 954-1706