Gulf Pay, Built on P97 Tech, Will Join Growing List of Gas Wallets Later This Year

Gulf Oil L.P. becomes the latest fuel retailer to offer its own mobile-payment app with the introduction Tuesday of Gulf Pay.

The service, scheduled to be tested at some New England and New York locations in the first half of 2017, eventually will accept Mastercard Inc.’s Masterpass digital wallet. Further expansion of the service is anticipated in 2018.

In addition to paying for fuel at the pump with a smart phone, Gulf Pay users will be able to locate Gulf stations, view actual fuel prices, obtain directions, and view offers for fuel and in-store products. Details of how payment transactions will process were not released. The app will be available for iOS and Android devices, according to a Gulf Oil Web site. Wellesley Hills, Mass.-based Gulf Oil has more than 1,800 Gulf gas stations.

The app is built on technology from P97 Networks Inc., a Houston-based petroleum-services company. Other companies using its technology include To Go Stores, a Puerto Rico-based convenience store chain, Phillips 66 and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Chase Pay.

Other fuel retailers, like ExxonMobil Corp., have released mobile payments apps to ease the at-the-pump payment experience, especially as they consider the implications of EMV at the pump. Dipping an EMV card into a reader may take longer to complete than using a app.

The fuel-pump liability shift was pushed from this October to Oct. 1, 2020.