Payment technology and processing firms Gilbarco Veeder-Root and Ingenico have announced plans to provide indoor and outdoor payment solutions to the fuel retail sector. The partnership presents an excellent opportunity for the two companies to ensure the use of technology is maximized in the European market, where the number and functionality of existing terminals varies tremendously.
Gilbarco provides fuelling systems and retail payment technology to the forecourt sector, while Ingenico focuses on transaction processing and payment solutions. The alliance will allow the two companies to leverage their individual strengths and benefit from the growing importance of cards as a payment mechanism on Europe's forecourts. In providing fuelling stations with secure and integrated technologies, a key objective of the partnership is to provide services specific to EMV (chip and PIN) technologies.
Despite cards being used for almost 50% of payment transactions on the European forecourt, not all stations are currently maximizing the use of payment terminals. This is not only in terms of the number of machines available, but also the fact that the functionality and integration of terminals into the wider financial network is often lacking.
This is particularly important at a time when the number of fuelling stations across Europe is falling and a greater number of vehicles or motorists have to be served efficiently at each individual site.
There are approximately 2.5 terminals per site at a European level and the number and functionality of card terminals varies greatly between markets. The French and Spanish markets have the highest number of terminals per site, and the number of vehicles a single site has to cater for is quite low. On the contrary, many markets such as Poland have a particularly high vehicle to terminal ratio, indicating that there is scope for the number of terminals to increase.
Moreover, the level of EMV compliance of European forecourt terminals often lags average EMV compliance rates. In the UK, Belgium and France, terminals on the forecourt lag the level of compliance exhibited by terminals nationally, while forecourt terminals in Germany and Spain are ahead of the national average.
As EMV compliance becomes mandatory across Europe, the level of card usage increases and the onus on remaining petrol station sites to service a rising motorist population grows. Gilbarco and Ingenico should, therefore, be well placed to meet new demand in the European forecourt arena.