Dive Brief:
- Circle K has launched a fleet payment mobile app alongside Car IQ, Sterling Pratz, CEO of the vehicle payment solution company, said in a statement to C-Store Dive.
- The app joins Circle K’s roster of Circle K Pro fleet cards, which offer businesses various fueling discounts. Unlike those cards, the new mobile app offers fleet drivers a fully digital payment solution, said Pratz, who added that the platform went live this week.
- Offering a digital fleet card underscores Circle K’s aim to attract more fleet customers as inflation continues to impact consumer spending.
Dive Insight:
Car IQ’s platform — which Circle K invested in in 2023 — leverages vehicle data to automate the payment process at fuel pumps, eliminating the need for drivers to swipe a credit card, enter a PIN or add an odometer reading. The frictionless program is a means to reduce credit card fraud risk, which continues to plague fuel retailers and consumers.
The new Car IQ-powered Circle K mobile app should help fleet drivers avoid credit card skimmers at the pump. Through the app, fleet drivers can locate their nearest Circle K and connect to the store before they even pull up to eliminate data entry while on site, according to Circle K’s website. Once they arrive, drivers simply pull up to the pump, tap their card and drive off after fueling.
Users also get live in-app support as well as a personal dashboard to manage back-office systems, view previous transactions and review spend insights.
“[Circle K is] using our payment tech to offer a fully digital payment (no cards) to enhance their customers digital fueling experience, allowing their customers’ fleet vehicles to connect directly to all Circle K fuel centers,” Pratz said in a statement. “They’ll also be able to shop at all other brands nationwide, adding more choice.”
A spokesperson from Alimentation Couche-Tard, Circle K’s parent company, declined to comment on the new app.
