Dive Brief:

• Martin & Bayley, parent company of Huck’s Convenience Store, has partnered with Car IQ to accept the payment platform’s network for fuel purchases, according to a Tuesday press release.
• The frictionless commercial fleet payments method is available at all 128 Huck’s locations in five states — Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.
• C-stores like Hucks, Kum & Go and RaceTrac have been adding various fleet payment options to the more traditional fuel payments at the pump.

Dive Insight:

With convenience stores increasingly looking to compete with travel center chains and attract professional drivers, a system like Car IQ can make them more appealing to fleet drivers by offering an easier way to pay.

Car IQ allows the vehicles of fleets using its network to connect directly to the pump through telematics. The network validates the vehicle, authorizes payment and unlocks the pump in one streamlined process. It can also measure the fuel in the tank before and after fill-up to avoid fraud. Users can pay through the Car IQ app instead of having to manage a company card or apply for reimbursements. 

“With Car IQ in our corner, we can not only provide an incredible, state-of-the-art, payment platform for our customers, but we can also tap into an enormous amount of new opportunities to create commercial fleet volume at our stations,” said Jon Bunch, director of marketing at Huck’s.

Once the vehicle is finished fueling up, Car IQ pays the store and sends receipts and invoices to the driver’s company dashboard. 

In addition to Huck’s, Car IQ payment is accepted at more than 25,000 fuel stations, including Sinclair, Sunoco and Shell. The company also added integration with PDI Technologies in June to allow for purchases inside participating stores as well.

“Merchants such as Huck’s are critical in providing solid regional coverage for commercial fleet drivers,” said Sterling Pratz, CEO of Car IQ. “Car IQ will bring a more seamless and secure payment method to Huck’s for commercial fleet drivers.”

Car IQ isn’t the only company adding more stores to its network. RaceTrac began accepting Fuelman cards at all of the company’s nearly 800 sites last month, and Relay has made deals with Maverik, Yesway and Pilot Company in the past year.

Martin & Bayley operates 128 Hucks Convenience Stores in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee.