As gas prices in the United States continue to hover around $4 a gallon, one discount gas chain is using a unique approach to mobile payments to help its customers save money. 

According to an article at Convenience Store News, Arkansas-based Murphy Oil USA has introduced MurPay, a payment system that sends text messages to the cell phones of registered customers who have linked their checking accounts to MurPay accounts. Customers then use the text messages to make purchases at Murphy USA's 1,115 locations. If they use the text messages to pay for gas, MurPay charges them the lowest price available within the previous 24 hours at any Murphy USA station.

Charles Jarrett, Murphy USA's senior director of retail IT, told CSNews that the company "wanted to show Murphy as an innovative company and reach out to customers with an appealing, simple method of payment."

The process isn't as simple as pulling out a credit card to pay at the pump. It requires customers to pre-register their checking accounts as well as send an SMS text to request a payment code. However, it's simple enough that Jarrett told CSNews Murphy USA is processing hundreds of daily transactions with little promotion.

From a mobile payment perspective, what makes the MurPay program unique is that transactions are linked to checking accounts and processed through the ACH network, not through credit card networks. That helps Murphy USA keep transaction costs, and prices at the pump, low. According to Jarrett, "the fees associated with MurPay, in a more stable gasoline pricing environment, are much less than credit and debit, closest to a check transaction."

More information on the program can be found at the MurPay site. Murphy USA locations can be found at the company's website.