The PrimeFMS platform helps you automate any interactions with customers at fuel or charging stations. This includes sales and provision of fuel and energy, issuance of fuel tickets, a loyalty program, communication with customers and omnichannel messaging.
Benefits for you: the platform lets customers refuel cars at stations with the dedicated PrimeFMS mobile application. This makes it possible for you to sell fuel or energy to customers who can pay using credit or debit cards or use other forms of payment. Additionally, your corporate customers can refuel company’s vehicles and use corporate accounts as a form of payment, with consideration of limits. Fuel and energy tickets can be used to provide fuel and energy, paid for in advance.
Benefits for corporate customers:
Benefits for customers:
Tasks:
1.) Self-Service for Drivers
2.) For corporate customers:
3.) Fuel and charging stations where an attendant controls the pumps using a phone or a tablet. An ability to control the pump from a mobile phone, tablet, laptop or computer. A driver can refuel or charge the car just by phone number without a mobile application (using SMS to confirm their identity) using the QR code, displayed in the mobile application or the chatbot. Different payment methods are supported: credit and debit cards, customer accounts, cash or electronic money, payment by QR code or in a mobile application.
4.) Issuance, distribution, sale and processing of fuel tickets
5.) The ability to create a single digital fuel card between different fuel stations (possibility to organize the fuel operator)
6.) Refueling at fuel stations of other chaint with mutual settlements
7.) Creation of a single mobile application for several fuel stations or chains with different owners. Each owner receives money from the customer directly to their account)
8.) Creation of a general application for the sale of fuel coupons from several independent fueling chains
9.) Other tools (coupons, prepaid cards, gift certificates, omnichannel communication with customers)
In both cases, the software module must be installed that interacts with a cash desk (if it’s necessary to use a cash desk, for example, to print a receipt). If this is not necessary, you can install a special controller directly at the fueling station and it allows you to control the pump directly from the server, bypassing the cash desk.
1. A customer fuels or charges the vehicle by himself:
You have a traditional fuel station or the modern automated station, and you can let drivers buy and receive fuel or energy at the stations in different ways. In this case, you need a control system that could allow the driver to use tools such as a mobile application. Through these channels, the driver will be able to make a request for the purchase of fuel and energy and pay using a credit or debit card or from a corporate account. Further, the PrimeFMS platform launches the process in the cloud and interacts with the mobile application on the one hand, and with the station on the other hand: in real time, the platform communicates with all the pumps or stands, monitors their status and allows provision of fuel or energy. Also, you can identify a customer without using physical or ID cards, simply by phone number.
Inside the platform, you can distribute access rights to accounts or issue various coupons and tickets. A mobile phone number becomes a universal fuel card. Fuel and charging stations get the mechanisms for selling and provision of fuel and energy, various complex mechanics of interactions between partners.
A driver enters the station and starts the mobile application. In the app, s/he sees the nearest fuel stations (they can be selected on the map); the “Refuel” button appears in the app. When the driver clicks on this button, the software immediately uses geo-location to ensure that the driver is at the right station. If this is not so, a special notice is given, and the driver cannot receive fuel or energy.
The second way: the driver can confirm that s/he is at the right station by scanning a special QR code, located at the station. This QR code can contain not only the station identifier, but also the pump/stand number or even the number of the nozzle or the charging cable. The system will find out, at which fuel station the driver is located, on which pump and which fuel is received.
After confirming the location or scanning the QR code, the driver starts the refueling or charging process. PrimeFMS supports two kinds of fuel stations. The first kind is traditional, where one first chooses the pump and then chooses the product. The second kind is small automatic fuel and charging stations when both the pump/stand and the product are chosen at the same time (e.g. 1-diesel, 2-fuel, 3- natural gas and 4 – energy).
After that, the system first offers some pre-configured values (e.g. refuel 5l, 10l, 15l, 20l or for $50, $100, $200). Also, the driver has the opportunity to enter custom volume or an amount in a special calculator.
Depending on the settings, the system determines whether it deals with a retail customer or a corporate driver. If this is a retail customer, then there is the opportunity to pay with a credit or debit card, or use a prepaid account. Data about bank cards will be safe: PrimeFMS doesn’t store them and instead uses services from global partners (at the moment it is Stripe Payment). After entering card information, it becomes possible to refuel or charge the vehicle. In addition, the application ensures that the correct nozzle or charging cable is selected. Before starting the operation, the system reserves money on the customer’s card account to avoid the situation when there is not enough money after fueling or charging. After the fueling or charging is completed, the payment card or a prepaid account will be charged an exact amount.
The PrimeFMS platform contains a powerful module for setting the rules of the loyalty program of any level of complexity. Various rules for shipping fuel or energy can be easily created. For example, when a driver refuels more than 30 liters, we give a discount of 50 cents per liter, or, for certain categories of customers, the system credits 10% bonus points for all purchases of over 20 liters and so on.
A customer can use a special section of the application – the e-shop. There, s/he can replenish their prepaid account for the future, possibly with a small discount (for example, “replenish your account with more than $100 and we will credit $110”) or buy large volume of fuel with a discount (for example, “buy 500 liters of fuel with a discount and then just refuel with that fuel”). After this operation, the customer has the “customer account” (fuel, energy or money) and at the time of payment they can choose not a bank card, but this customer account.
nside the platform, one can set up business accounts. This can be a prepaid or credit account, fuel or energy account, or an account with achievements. Accounts can be nominated in real currency or use some kind of internal currency. A business gets the opportunity to grant access to its accounts to any employees who need it. To do this, it’s enough to indicate the employee’s phone number and specify additional information that would help to control refueling. These may be restrictions for fueling per month or per day for a given employee. Business can protect access to accounts with an additional PIN. In this case, after starting the application, a driver will have to enter the special PIN code. You can also request additional information, for example, require the driver to specify the odometer readings when he or she is refueling or charging the vehicle.
2. Refueling or charging using the Terminal app (with attendant’s help)
For whom it will be the best:
The driver approaches the attendant or the cashier. The attendant, working on a tablet or phone, scans a QR code or enters the customer’s phone number. Alternatively, the PrimeFMS software can be used at the checkout.
It’s necessary when the customer uses a corporate fuel card, or if it’s a customer, who participates in the loyalty program. The customer tells the phone number to the attendant (and indicates the PIN code, received using a communication channel), or shows a QR code or a plastic card.
The customer tells about the product and its quantity to the attendant.
The customer can pay with cash, credit or debit card, funds from a corporate or personal customer account, bonus points. After the payment, it becomes possible to refuel or charge the car; the assistant presses the “Refuel” button in the Terminal, which can be integrated with the fuel dispenser system. After that, payment is charged and, if a loyalty program is used, bonus points are credited to the customer’s bonus account.
Issuance, distribution, sale and redemption of fuel and energy tickets
Features of fuel and energy tickets:
Easily implemented stages of use of fuel and energy tickets:
Three main types of tickets
The process of creating and using fuel and energy tickets:
Additional tools for communication and customer acquisition:
Typically, fuel stations implement complex mechanisms for selling and dispensing fuel inside the cash system. In such mechanisms, the cash desk or fuel terminals allow you to control, reserve fuel and energy, make payments, and control pumps. But the market changes and remote or automated execution of these tasks becomes a must. We are talking about such scenarios as refueling a vehicle by use of the customer-controlled mobile application.
For this purpose, PrimeFMS has developed a unique product – a cloud-based system for control over provision of fuel and energy. With this cloud technology, we simultaneously control
a) dispenser controllers, installed at fuel stations
b) (using the integration module) cash desks that are at different fuel stations
The controller module orchestrates all processes, it is able to receive a task for managing provision of fuel and energy and coordinate such complex processes as authentication and authorization of the customer,the ability to receive a payment or lock (reserve) it on a bank card and notification of the customer about events (redemption, replenishment of the account)
In the modern world, it is very useful to dynamically provide a certain driver with access to specific accounts, tickets, and other functions. Using a plastic card or RFID for this becomes inefficient. PrimeFMS has a number of technologies that allow you to use a mobile phone number as a universal fuel card (a PIN code is sent via SMS or other communication channel to confirm your identity). Our solution also allows you to use a mobile application or any plastic card as identification. This enables the driver to use the same account in different interaction scenarios: on the website when buying fuel or energy or in the mobile application when refueling.
The PrimeFMS platform is multidimentional: depending on your needs, you get the necessary tools that easily interact with others. In a minute, you can configure various complex schemes – for example, changing the pricing policy for VIP customers or notifying a customer in the case of any specific events, or complex schemes for reservation and payment for fuel or energy. All PrimeFMS modules work with each other. For example, when a customer is buying fuel “in advance” in a mobile application, we must credit the fuel to the customer account and also inform the customer via the usual communication channel (mobile application, chatbot, instant messaging, SMS, e-mail) about crediting their account. Most of these processes don’t need to be programmed; they are configured by the manager in the business control panel.
In order to launch a modern fuel card, you don’t need to issue any plastic cards. You can arrange the sale of fuel or energy using fuel accounts, governed by a public offer, without using any additional documents.
Implementation:
I. Cloud service: use on inCust servers with a monthly service charge
II. On premises: purchase a software license and then install and use the platform on your servers