Taiwan is to trial fuel payments via mobile phone.
In Asia, integrated circuit (IC) chips embedded in credit cards can already be used to make payments in a wide variety of retail outlets. Trials involving the implantation of IC chips in mobiles are set to enable transactions, for fuel and many other items, direct from handsets.
Similar trials have also taken place in Europe. For example, Statoil has tested mobile technology in Denmark and, in autumn 2001, Shell launched a pilot scheme using Bluetooth technology in Norway and later in the US. In both cases, trials were successful but fuel retailers concluded the initial investment was too great. While European fuel retailers are much more hesitant, in Asia-Pacific all the parties involved, including retailers, card providers and mobile phone operators, are supporting and investing in this new payment technology.
By maximizing usage of outdoor payment terminals (OPTs), there is potential for fuel retailers to increase throughput by up to 25%. This is coupled with a reduction in staff needed both to complete the transaction and prevent opportunists driving off without paying. Mobile payments will, in fact, prevent crime as transactions will involve a PIN or else be linked directly to a current account as well as reducing the amount of cash held on site. In addition, new studies refuting the widely-held belief that mobiles pose a fire hazard on the forecourt make this new technology all the more viable.
However, it is not all good news. The initial investment for such technology is high, the payback period lengthy and dependent on positive consumer uptake. While some motorists will embrace the technology, others will avoid it out of mistrust or unfamiliarity and a minority without mobiles will be excluded entirely. There is also confusion over which party would be responsible for transaction errors and inevitable security concerns, while a further problem is that up to 20% of OPTs can be out of action at any one time due to malfunction, pushing up maintenance costs. These limitations, coupled with the high initial investment, may explain fuel retailers’ reticent approach to such radical innovations.
