Dive Brief:

• Vehicle payment company Car IQ announced this week that it has partnered with PDI Technologies, a technology company focused on convenience stores, to expand its payment network and help enable in-store sales.
• Under the agreement, Car IQ will utilize PDI’s mPAY application to process cardless payments for fleet customers at convenience stores (c-stores), both at the pump and at the register.
• The deal expands Car IQ’s vehicle-recognition payment technology across PDI’s merchant network at a time when c-stores are looking to expand their appeal with fleet companies and also boost payment security.

Dive Insight:

The partnership puts a charge into Car IQ’s expansion plans, allowing the payment tech company to reach thousands of c-store retailers that are already integrated with PDI Technologies. The latter provides software to power retailers’ operations and loyalty programs. 

For PDI, the deal offers its merchant network a new payment option and access to incremental fleet customers.

“The ability to simplify the payment process for purchases gives retailers direct access to commercial drivers. Retailers can identify and communicate with fleets via targeted offers based on vehicle data and driver behavior,” said Mike Melson, senior vice president and general manager of payments and loyalty with PDI Technologies, in the announcement.

Car IQ enables payments at c-stores and other merchants through its vehicle-recognition technology. The tech authorizes payment, unlocks the pump and then sends a receipt to the driver as well as the fleet provider. It can also set limits on fueling and push in-store offers to drivers while they’re at the station.

In an interview last year, Car IQ CEO Sterling Pratz said c-storea like Kum & Go, which onboarded the company’s technology last fall, are interested in gathering data from fleets and also pushing rewards and loyalty offers to drivers. Car IQ payment is accepted at more than 25,000 fuel stations, including Sinclair, Sunoco and Shell.

In addition to fuel payments, Car IQ’s partnership with PDI also helps it link with c-stores’ in-store payment systems to streamline payment for incremental purchases.

PDI Technologies is in use at more than 200,000 locations globally. Its Fuel Rewards and GasBuddy programs total more than 20 million active users.