forecourttech April 19

Technology for the evolving retail forecourt. 

ISSUE: 01 | April 2019 

DRIVEN BY A SMILE: 

THE STORY OF DUTCH 

RETAILER TANQYOU 

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forecourttech 

Editors note 

welcome to forecourttech online, the new 

E-magazine enhancing the forecourttech brand and 

reporting on current and future technologies that optimise 

the operation of the retail forecourt and enhance the 

customer experience. 

The retail forecourt is quickly adapting to the digital 

revolution with many retailers understanding the 

advantages that it brings, such as higher efficiency in 

fuel management, improved pricing systems and higher 

customer loyalty. By digital we refer to cloud, analytics 

(including big data), mobility, interactivity (i.e. social 

networking), robotics, machine learning, artificial 

intelligence, the internet of things and multi-channel 

marketing. 

Fuel retailers are increasingly turning to digital 

technologies to not only build, operate and maintain fuel 

stations with greater safety and efficiency, but also to 

transform their mobility, fuels and consumer experience. 

Each month forecourttech online will feature views from 

industry associations, major fuel retailers and 

independent operators as well as reporting on developing 

technologies from global solution providers. 

The magazine will also serve as a promotional tool to 

report on and promote our annual conference and 

meetings Convention ‘forecourttech’. 

At ‘forecourttech online’ we look forward to receiving your 

views on the content and topics of interest. We are open 

to your comments, and will feature an industry opinion 

column in future issues as part of our commitment to 

bringing you news that is informative and educational 

pagethree 

I want to thank all those currently supporting the 

forecourttech brand, those that have supported this, 

the first issue of forecourttech online and look forward 

to building the brand awareness and readership as we 

progress. 

The forecourttech brand is owned and 

promoted by SAB Events Europe Ltd. All 

rights reserved. 

The views expressed in this magazine are 

those of the author and do not necessarily 

represent those of SAB Events Europe. No 

part of this electronic magazine may be 

copied or reproduced without the written consent 

of SAB Events Europe Ltd. 

Advertising: 

Steve Sanders 

steve@sabevents.eu 

Features: 

Wendy Taylor 

wendy@sabevents.eu 

SAB Events Europe Ltd. 

The Quadrant 

Surrey 

KT17 4RH 

www.sabevents.eu 

#forecourttech @forecourttech www.forecourttech.com


News round-up 

Automatic speed limiting technology is to be 

made standard on all new cars from 2022, 

under Europe-wide plans. 

Circle K has strengthened its electric vehicle 

initiative with high power charging stations 

from ABB. 

Tesla is upgrading its supercharging network 

to V3 for next-generation speeds. 

Amazon Go has a new competitor in grocery 

chain Meijer, which rolled out a new app this 

month letting shoppers scan items and pay 

on their mobile phones. 

Why big data is the future of self-driving cars. 

pagefive 

7-Eleven’s digital strategy is about expanding 

customer interactions. 

New research from Stanford University 

scientists demonstrates a new method for 

making hydrogen fuel directly from ocean 

water. 

According to research group IGD, over half of 

shoppers (54%) say they stop at a forecourt 

for food or drink regardless of whether they 

need fuel. 

Chevron has partnered with Microsoft to fuel 

digital transformation. Microsoft HoloLens 

makes sci-fi virtual teleporting a business 

reality for safer operations and to address 

issues more quickly. 



Driven by IT... 

and a smile 

Dutch company, TanQyou, is not your average fuel 

retailer. With a background in IT, Jan-Harmen Akkerman 

and his team had no experience in fuel retail before 2015. 

But putting their expertise to use they have created a 

streamlined digital experience that goes beyond the fuel 

pump and puts the fun back in to driving. 

pagesix 

Consumer habits are changing, technology is 

advancing and retailers are working hard to find ways to 

integrate new technologies for the benefit of customers and 

their business. For Dutch retailer, TanQyou, the process 

has been slightly different. The company, which was 

launched in 2015, was started not by fuel retail executives, 

but by IT professionals, and as such its very foundation is 

built on technology. Because of this TanQyou has been 

able to develop an innovative business model that rewards 

customers and encourages brand loyalty, despite the sites 

being unmanned. 

“We have a completely different perspective to traditional 

petrol retailers, explains TanQyou founder and CEO, Jan- 

Harmen Akkerman. 

“Traditional fuel retailers see delivering fuel to their customers 

as their main business stream with things like shop 

sales and EV charging as an extra. We see it the other way. 

Through our apps we are facilitating a mobile ecosystem 

and refueling is just one part of that. So whilst refueling 

is one of the main income sources for the business, our 

parking services, EV charging and shop sales are just as 

important,” he added. 

Jan started his other company, ICIT (internet bureau) – a 

full service digital agency, 18 years ago. The company 

provides services to multinational companies and it is 

through these years of expertise that Jan and his team 

have been able to carve out a unique place in the fuel retail 

market: “IT is the most important aspect in everything we 

do. We developed 99% of the techniques in house. The full 

company is built on this platform,” explains Jan. 

The company started when Jan purchased a 2.5 acre 

piece of land that had a license for a petrol station. “At first 

the goal was to rent the land to an oil company, but then I 

started to think that we could do this better, but not in the 

old way. So we started from scratch,” he explains. 

From scratch meant the IT experts putting their heads together 

to create their own fuel station management system. 

“We have our own POS and pump control systems – we 

made it lean, we made it simple. We looked at the business 

with a whole new perspective. We took the best bits of 

everything and only used external suppliers where they are 

really good at what they do. It allowed us to create a lean 

and mean forecourt,” said Jan. 

The platform has allowed TanQyou to engage with their 

customers in new and innovative ways with the aim to 

make refueling ‘fun and personal again’. 

“Competition in this market is high and we believe that you 



have to find other ways to connect to customers to be the 

first in line and the one stop shop solution on the entire 

mobility customer journey,” said Jan. 

The nearly 19,000 TanQyou members benefit from periodic 

prize draws and happy hours via the MyTanQyou app. For 

every litre refueled, members get one entry into the draw 

where they stand a chance to win a whole range of prizes 

including cars, gadgets and vouchers. The loyalty app 

has proved a hit with customers. At the company’s original 

and largest location around 89% of customers are using 

the application with an average of 60% digitally recognised 

across TanQYou’s 24 locations. 

TanQyou’s main goal is to become “the platform” in the 

mobility services industry and aims to support this goal by 

expanding its fuel retail network into other parts of Europe 

over the next few years. 

pageseven 

Jan-Harmen Akkerman will give delegates and 

exclusive insight into TanQyou’s innovative approach to 

fuel retailing at forecourttech ’19. The presentation will 

focus on the use of online tools and optimising customer 

loyalty schemes. 

For more information visit www.forecourttech.com 



Fuelday for Retail 

A new name, a handful of (inter)national top speakers and lots of inspiration. Lots of inspiration. 

These were the main ingredients of BigBrother’s Fuelday for Retail. Ingredients that were eagerly 

consumed by more than 250 participants. 

Look further ahead 

Developments and changes in retailing countries are 

happening fast. What is new today is old again tomorrow. 

It is therefore important to keep up, writer and retail expert 

Steven van Belleghem outlined in a video at the start of the 

BigBrother congress in Ede in the Netherlands. “The cashless 

Amazon go is, after Apple Stores, the most lucrative 

retail formula in the world. It is not surprising that Amazon 

intends to roll out the concept quickly, also within petrol” 

Van Belleghem explained. He added that retailers have to 

embrace new technologies, such as systems that make 

cash-free shopping possible. Amazon Go uses cameras 

and sensors to detect what a customer is purchasing so 

when they are done they can simply leave the store and 

any purchases are paid for via their Amazon account. “It 

is about removing barriers”, says Frits Morrema, retail 

marketing & communication manager at Total Nederland. 

With his vision, he created the basis of Total’s COSIE shop 

concept. During the Fuelday for Retail he discussed the 

background of the idea. “The gas station is often classified 

as expensive and uncomfortable. We want to change that. 

COSIE stands for barista quality coffee, fresh juices and 

surprising sandwiches in a modern, welcoming and atmospheric 

environment, an environment where people like to 

stay.” Morrema made it clear to the public that a vision, a 

goal and a strategy are important factors of success, but 

that these should be combined with passion. “From management 

to employees on the floor; everyone has to stand 

behind and go for it. Only then will you achieve the goal 

of higher frequentation, more satisfied guests and higher 

spending. “ 

Customer data the basis of development 

The customer is also central at Shell. Customer data is an 

important starting point for new developments at the oil 

giant, Dan Jeavons said. He is general manager of Data 

Science at Shell, a department that is primarily concerned 

with the development of smart learning software. The new 

Shell Go + savings program, and its backend technology, 

is an example of this. Through this intelligence programme, 

Shell collects data and subsequently uses it for customer-specific 

rewards, among other things. Dan displayed to 

the conference participants a picture of all the possibilities 

that data the oil company offers. In the field of developing 

sustainable forms of energy, the company has also set 

itself the goal of halving its CO2 footprint by 2050 compared 

to today. Through all kinds of projects, events and 

hackathons (a meeting of software and website developers, 

designers and business strategists to work on a theme 

together). 

It was a beautiful and unique insight into the “new” world of 

Shell. It is an approach that received approval from Belgian 

trend watcher Rik Vera (pictured below). “Data ensures 

that retailers get to know their customers and can develop 

very focused concepts.” But there are conditions attached 

to that concept development, Vera explains. “No less than 

70 percent of retailers are busy with today, 20 percent with 

tomorrow and only 10 percent with the day after tomorrow. 

Only the latter group is doing well, when you come up with 

new things you have to look further ahead than just today 

or tomorrow.” He compares it with Uber. “Uber is thinking 

strongly about the future. Uber is not a taxi company at all, 

they have long looked ahead. Their app will soon be leading 

if the self-driving car is commonplace. Take it from me.” 

To illustrate his point, Vera used the analogy of a beach 

chair: “If all beach chairs are rented out, after a while the 

entrepreneur will optimise the rental - the chairs get a colour, 

they are not rented per day but per hour and also the 

chairs are smaller and placed closer together so that more 

fit on the beach. And then…. then there will be a tsunami. 

The sea recedes and the beach first becomes larger, with 

space to place even more seats. The entrepreneur does 

that too and suddenly, the tsunami engulfs everything. That 

tsunami is the disruptor!” 

pagenine 


The end of the 

forecourt as we 

know it? 

The end of the forecourt is nigh. It seems an ominous statement and perhaps for the few 

inexorable retailers resisting change, it is. For others, change presents exciting new 

opportunities for innovation and growth. Mark Wohltmann, Director of NACS Europe 

outlines some the opportunities and threats technology presents to the fuel retail industry.


The retail industry is evolving rapidly. The way people 

shop is changing and the retailers that are embracing the 

shift in consumer habits are the ones who will continue to 

thrive in the years to come. 

“When it comes to technology and how it will impact retail 

there are two different sides, the consumer side and the 

business side. Both elements are changing and progressing 

massively,’ explains Mark Wohltmann, Director of NACS 

Europe, a global convenience association dedicated to 

advancing convenience and fuel retailing globally. So in 

this rapidly progressing industry, what are the key trends 

that will shape the fuel retail sites of tomorrow? 

Mobile payments & loyalty 

In recent years there has been a significant rise in mobile 

payment solutions. For many customers this is seen as a 

convenient and efficient method of payment and for the retailer 

it generates volumes of consumer point-of-sale data. 

“Mobile payment applications is a development that everyone 

picked up on,” explains Mark. 

“What we have seen so far is larger companies investing 

in their own solutions, but that might change in the future. 

As a consumer the one thing you don’t want is to have 25 

different apps to use at 25 different retailers. Retailers need 

to find a balance between being open to the possibility of 

consumers using multi-site platforms at the pumps and in 

store but also being closed to protect their valuable loyalty 

data. We hear these discussions everywhere we go,” he 

added. 

A survey by Synchrony Financial in 2018 highlighted 

consumers’ willingness to download retailer mobile apps. 

The report recommended that retailers create mobile apps 

to bring together user experience opportunities and to 

engage customers with personalised offers and discounts 

that promote brand loyalty. 

“Retailers that have a fully integrated payment and loyalty 

solutions are able to gain really valuable insights. What I 

really like is when retailers use these platforms to enhance 

traditional marketing technique. So, for example, some 

retailers already implemented social promotion: if you sign 

up to a retailer’s app you get promotional offers that you 

can share with friends via email or text. They must then 

download the app to use it. It’s word of mouth marketing in 

the digital age,” added Mark. 

Big Data 

Data is king in this digital space and retailers that are able 

to access high quality data and know how to use it are able 

to gain huge competitive advantage. The idea of collecting 

data is not new. For hundreds of years businesses have 

kept records of their clients to maintain service levels, 

market new products or to simply stay in touch. The data 

available in the digital era however goes far beyond this. 

Retailers now have access to vast sums of data from multiple 

sources in real time, which if analysed properly can 

offer unique insights into consumer trends and behaviours. 

Big data, as the name would suggest, is often so large and 

complex that it goes beyond traditional analysis methods. 

Artificial intelligence and algorithms can help businesses 

make sense of the extremely large and constantly evolving 

data sets. 

“Big data is not just ‘lots of data’, it is about the wealth of information 

hidden behind it and only being useful once you 

combine and analyse it. A lot of companies really struggle 

bringing data together and they don’t have the man power 

or the resources to work with it. What will help them is machine 

learning and algorithms that does the work for them,” 

explained Mark. 

“Recently I spoke with a company that runs fleet cards 

and they decided to start looking further into their data to 

see what they could unearth. They found that they could 

predict well in advance when a fleet customer was at risk 

to move to another retailer by looking at their card-usage 

behaviours. As a retailer if you can access insights like this 

you can then adopt a more proactive approach and reach 

out to the customer, offer them a discount, show they are 

valued and perhaps prevent them from leaving.” 

pageeleven 



pagetwelve 

Electric vehicles 

As car manufacturers and governments look for ways to 

meet global climate targets, electric vehicles are being 

viewed as a possible solution to the problem. This in itself 

requires a huge change in consumer habits with even the 

fastest chargers on the market taking around 20 minutes to 

charge the battery to 50%, considerably longer than refuelling 

with petrol or diesel. 

“We all know it will change our industry, it will turn things 

upside down,” said Mark. 

“It might take a while but more and more I believe it will 

happen sooner than most of us think. Companies like BMW 

announced that in just a couple of years time they will have 

a fully electric model in every range. If all car manufacturers 

adopt a similar approach then this will really change the 

dynamic. If suddenly manufacturers are mass producing 

electric vehicles then we will see a reduction in price and 

more electric vehicles on the road. Retailers are aware of 

these changes and they are all looking in to what the future 

might hold.” 

With longer wait times this produces a unique opportunity 

for retailers to draw customers in to the stores, but just 

because they are there with nowhere else to go, it does not 

guarantee they will engage with the store. 

“On a recent trip to Norway I visited a petrol site that had 

10 chargers on the rear parking lot. It was lunchtime and all 

10 were occupied but all of the drivers were sat in the car 

on their phones, none were in the store. If a customer goes 

to a site and spends 30 minutes on charge but not in the 

store then it becomes clear that they don’t have the right 

infrastructure,” explains Mark. 

Destination forecourt 

“Traditionally you would you go to a c-store either because 

it is the only one open and everything else is closed or it is 

conveniently located on your journey. Suddenly with developing 

technology this called all disappear. If you have an at 

home electric charger, you won’t need to fuel anymore and 

if the likes of Amazon can deliver emergency purchases 

within an hour, you have no reason to go out. This means 

the fuel retail site has to become a destination not a stop 

over,” explained Mark. 

“We need to start thinking about destinations rather than 

c-stores. For rural communities a fuel station can become 

a community hub or due to more and more people working 

In a world with self drive cars, who decides 

where to stop and refuel? 



remotely it could become a co-working space. Retailers 

then need to think more about the in store experience. Just 

one great example of this is Maxol in Ireland, who won an 

Honourable Mention for their M3 Mulhuddart motorway 

station at the NACS International Convenience Retailer of 

the Year Award in 2017. They have a range of food offers 

and children’s play areas, so families go there because 

they want to. They leave home in their car with a motorway 

station in mind,” he added. 

Whilst convenience can be easily achieved online, more 

and more online retailers are investing in physical stores to 

deliver experience to their customers. China’s online retailer 

Alibaba is using a ‘New Retail’ model to meld the online and 

offline experience. In the last year they have opened 65 retail 

sites, that use mobile apps, online payments and a host 

of other cutting-edge technologies to provide a unique customer 

experience. Customers can even order from home 

and typically, customers within a three-kilometre radius can 

receive their groceries within 30 minutes. 

“In a recent discussion with Alibaba in China, they explained 

to us why they, as an online retailer, are opening 

physical stores: ‘We need stores to deliver experience. It’s 

not necessarily about selling but building the relationship, 

allowing customers to connect, trust and get to know the 

brand’, something that our industry truly has an advantage 

in that we can utilize,” explained Mark. 

Self drive cars 

Self-driving cars are here. Whilst mass adoption is still a 

way off, the technology is there. 

“It all comes down to owns the customer of the future. At the 

moment if a customer wants a drink they decide where to 

stop. If there is a self driving vehicle then who tells it where 

to stop? Is it Google because the data is based on maps? 

Is it the customer? Does the vehicle make the decision 

based on consumer habits or companies’ promotions? This 

question has not yet been answered. It is a threat and an 

opportunity,” said Mark. 

“At the International Forecourt 

Standards Forum (IFSF), we are 

following all of the trends that Mark 

has highlighted above with interest. 

We certainly agree that those who 

do not embrace these changes are in danger of being left 

behind. What we are seeing is that to allow the fuel retailing 

landscape to keep up with and hopefully lead other market 

segments, all elements of the forecourt and backcourt need 

to be able to easily interface not only with each other, but 

also with the myriad of platforms now hosted in the “cloud”. 

In order for this to happen, all parties need to use standards 

not just within their own geography and segment, but 

globally, to be able to benefit from break-in technologies 

from existing software and hardware vendors, plus new 

innovators. To this end, IFSF provides standards and 

implementation guides that allow for the interoperability of 

the new technologies along with the legacy technologies 

enabling fuel retailers to operate and offer both for many 

years to come.” 

Heather Price, Chair, IFSF 

pagethirteen 

Mark Wohltmann will be discussing ‘The end of the 

forecourt as we know it’ at forecourttech ’19. The key 

note presentation will feature exclusive insights from the 

most recent NACS Global Issues Survey on technology 

and will look at trends and disruptors as well as examining 

how emerging technologies could change the way 

consumers interact with the c-store, that may fundamentally 

change the face of fuel retailing and forecourt 

convenience as we know it. 

For more information visit www.forecourttech.com 



Supplier news 

Car wash manufacturer, ISTOBAL, will 

present ‘Smartwash’ at The Forecourt Show 

2019 in Birmingham, UK from 8-10 April. 

Smartwash is a pioneering new technological 

concept for digitalising car wash facilities 

LED lighting specialists, Bever Innovations, 

has successfully partnered with Distec 

Graphics and LED signage company based 

in Guatemala to provide lights for their LED 

price displays. 

pagefourteen 

In their latest blog post, Igenico Group 

examine connected cars, the technology 

powering them and what this means for 

commerce. 

Tim Hoffmeister is to become the CEO of 

Implico Group. Tim joined the company in 

September 2018 as Chief Financial Officer. 

The new role will focus on strategic 

development. 

Kalibrate’s User Conference 2019 brought 

fuel and convenience retailers together in 

San Diego for two days of discussions and 

networking. Here they outline the highlights 

and takeaways. 

Scheidt & Bachmann and Worldline have 

announced a new partnership that will enable 

future proof card processing at fuel stations. 



Gilbarco Veeder-Root is full charged and 

ready to deliver electric vehicle charging to 

Europe’s forecourts. In October last year the 

company made a minority investment in 

Tritium, a privately held EV charging 

technology leader, to enable the retail fueling 

technologies business to meet progressive 

customer needs in the face of the e-mobility 

revolution. 

IFSF Chairman, Heather Price, has been 

announced as the conference programme 

moderator for forecourttech ‘19. Heather was 

joined IFSF in 2018 and was 

formerly Business IT Manager, EAME for 

Fuels & Lubricants with ExxonMobil. 

pagefifteen 

The NACS Convenience Summit Europe will 

take place from 5-7 June in London, UK. 

The event will be hosted by NACS Director of 

Europe and forecourttech ‘19 speaker, Mark 

Wohltmann. Registration is now open. 

Dover Fueling Soultions (DFS) has signed 

a new five -year deal with EG Group. The 

agreement will see DFS provide wetstock 

management solutions to EG Group’s sites 

worldwide. 

Accenture has invested in and formed an 

allinace with P97 Networks, a leader in cloudbased 

mobile commerce, in-vehicle 

payments and digital marketing solutions for 

the convenience retail, fuel and vehicle 

manufacturing industries. 

The Smart Payment Association’s (SPA) latest 

paper addresses the protection problem surrounding 

IOT payments. 



Is your fuel 

card system 

future-proofed? 

- A checklist for CEOs and CIOs 

pagesixteen 

This checklist was designed by Walter Van Huyck, an 

expert in fleet card systems who has led the 

development and marketing of international fleet card 

systems for major fuel retailers, such as Lukoil and 

ConocoPhillips. Now Walter works as Business 

Relationship Manager at OpenWay, a software provider 

of fleet card issuing and acceptance solutions. 

Everyone loves changes, nobody wants to be changed. Payments are one of the most 

dynamic areas in the fuel retail business, encompassing how customers pay at fuel 

stations, how fleet companies control their fuel expenses, and how merchants motivate 

customers to pay faster and buy more. At some point, to meet the ever-changing customer 

expectations, you have to look at your current fuel payment system and ask yourself: ‘Is it 

still fit-for-purpose? Do we need to change?’ 

Your system probably fits the needs of your business now and for a couple of years into 

the future. But will this still be the case in 2022? We encourage you to challenge yourself. Is 

your current system for managing fuel card payments ready for your “next big thing”? 



CEO CHECKLIST 

1.Does your system support business 

growth? 

This is the most important question. When you 

expand cross-border, your fuel card system should 

support multi-currency payments and be compliant 

with local accounting regulations. If you acquire or 

merge with another fuel company, the system should 

be able to handle multiple entities, with streamlined 

card payments operations across all business units. 

Furthermore, if you have a successful year and double 

your customer base, your system should be able 

to process increased volumes without issues. Modern 

systems provide scalability and do not limit your 

growth opportunities. 

2. Are you flexible enough to provide 

the best experience for your 

customers? 

As a fuel retailer, you want the best service experience 

at your petrol stations for corporate drivers and 

individual customers alike. They deserve the latest 

payment innovations you can offer. But if your card 

system or service provider is lagging behind, you lose 

control over how and when you roll out new features. 

For example, real-time payments have become a 

game changer for corporates. Your system should 

be able to check the limits, assess risks, calculate 

the best price, and apply discounts – all online and in 

real-time. Fleet managers expect to see the updated 

balance just moments after the top-up. 

For individuals, mobile and wearable payments 

can be a good differentiator. If drivers prefer to pay 

without leaving their car, then petrol stations should 

be able to accept this type of payment – whether it 

is QR-code, NFC, or in-app based. Sometimes, such 

innovations bring even more value to the business. 

One of our customers now delivers a fuel card directly 

to the driver’s mobile app. Users pay at stations by 

scanning a barcode. No plastic card is needed. They 

can check the balance and amount available on their 

account, limits on petrol types and car services in 

real-time. For the fuel company, it has brought significant 

savings on plastic card issuance and eased the 

pressure on customer support staff. 

3. Is your business compliant? 

If you operate in Europe, your system supports the 

IFSF standards as a matter of course. But recently 

there have been a few regulation changes that do 

not apply to the fuel business directly but mandate 

changes in business processes around customer 

data and the security of payments, e.g. GDPR, PSD2. 

Can your system adopt theses new requirements 

easily? 

4. How does card management fit in 

your business ecosystem? 

B2B customers expect to be onboarded just in hours 

or days, not months. Also, they want to perform most 

fuel card operations via online portals and mobile 

apps. At the same time, fleet managers prefer to receive 

reports on fuel expenses in near real-time. This 

means that the whole business should work as a welloiled 

machine, without interruptions and bottlenecks. 

This can be achieved if the core payment platform is 

truly online and integrates with other business-crucial 

components through standard, open APIs. This 

delivers business automation and enhances customer 

service. 

5. Do you have enough control over 

business development and service 

quality? 

Want to set up a new rule for price calculation for 

VIPs or launch a new card for tourists? How long will 

it take for the IT team to satisfy your request? Also, 

controlling service quality can be a pain point for 

companies that rely on third-parties to run their card 

business. For some types of fleet companies guaranteeing 

100% service stability is a must. As an IT 

director of a major fuel network that uses our platform 

puts it: “It is not the end of the world, if a person can’t 

pay at the supermarket because of system downtime. 

But ambulances can’t be kept waiting at our stations. 

It may cost a life and it will definitely cause fines and 

reputational damage for us”. 

pageseventeen 



CIO CHECKLIST 

1.How quickly can you support requests 

from business? 

Normally, a new product feature should be a matter 

of configuration, not a heavy customization exercise. 

And your team should be able to do this without 

vendor involvement. Sometimes new functionality can 

be a challenge if the current system was tailor-made 

for your company. You cannot always benefit from developments 

made for other users. So, a standardized 

off-the-shelf solution could be the answer. 

3. Do you have enough control over 

your system? 

In-house vs. outsourced operations? There is no right 

answer here. An in-house system means agility and 

full control over your business, which comes together 

with significant investment in the team and infrastructure. 

On the other hand, outsourcing card operations 

means almost no levers of influence on the product 

roadmap and service stability. A good alternative 

can be to run your system in the cloud, thus cutting 

infrastructure costs while still retaining control over 

the product. 

pageeighteen 

2. Calculate how much money you 

spend on payment systems integration 

Maybe it is high time to optimize the architecture to 

remove redundancy and complexity. For example, 

some of our customers manage card issuing, acquiring, 

and transaction switching for several countries 

on a single platform. This centralization delivers 

maintenance and vendor management savings. If you 

migrate data from legacy systems, the new system 

should be able to accommodate customer data, so 

that unification does not cause a loss of valuable 

information. 

Summary 

Assessing your card payment systems is not an 

exercise to be undertaken daily or even monthly. 

But some factors, such as a business expansion 

strategy targeting new geographies or customer 

segments can trigger the change and open new 

doors. 

To consult our experts or learn how the fuel 

companies drive a better customer experience 

on WAY4, the leading digital payments platform, 

visit our website. 

OpenWay Group is a global developer of WAY4, the top-ranked open digital payment software 

platform covering card issuing, acquiring, switching, digital channels, mobile wallet, loyalty, and 

fleet cards. WAY4 is the choice for fuel companies looking for revenue-generating, 

cost-efficient, real-time payment processing. It offers product and service flexibility, dynamic 

pricing, event-driven architecture, innovation, scalability, and high performance.

forecourttech April 19

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