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Petroleum giant ExxonMobil Corp. is adding QR code and near-field communication-enabled tags to its fuel pumps for consumers using Apple Pay or Google Pay.
ExxonMobil says more than 11,500 U.S. Exxon and Mobil stations will have the tags by year’s end. Users can hold their iPhones or Android phones against the tag or scan the QR code with the camera to activate the transaction.
On iPhones, for consumers without the ExxonMobil app, the contactless connection prompts an Apple Inc. App Clips feature to display a portion of the full-fledged app without requiring the consumer download it at that moment. Instead, a small part of the app is activated—the payment part. Once the transaction is authorized, the app clip shows the status of the transaction and a prompt to get the full-fledged app.
Apple says App Clips, introduced in iOS14, is a small part of an app that lets a user do a task quickly, without downloading or installing the full app.
Scanning the QR code or tapping the tag for consumers with the ExxonMobil Rewards+ app expedites the opening of the app, the company says. Typically, the consumer has to wake the phone and tap the app to open it.
Customers with Android phones are prompted to download the app, where they can pay for fuel with Google Pay in the app. “Android customers who tap their phone to the sticker will be brought to a web-version of the Exxon Mobil Rewards+ app, where they can also pay for gas with Google Pay directly from the web page without having to download the Exxon Mobil Rewards+ app,” ExxonMobil says.
ExxonMobil is quickly taking advantage of the new Apple technology, especially as consumers continue to be mindful of touching common payment devices.
“ExxonMobil is offering this new technology as part of an ongoing effort to continue innovation at the pump and offer customers simple, safe, and secure ways to pay,” the company says in a statement. “This new contactless payment solution builds on earlier efforts this year to promote contactless payment such as ‘Alexa, Pay for Gas’ with Amazon. ”
The tags only work with iPhones or Android phones. Consumers who want to pay with a contactless-enabled credit or debit card tap the card against the standard NFC reader on the pump.
