ExxonMobil DriverDash Brings Mobile Payments to Fleet Systems

There are some places where mobile payments make a particular sense. Any drive-thru, for example, is perfect for mobile payments. A gas station might be one of the most rational places of all; pull in, pay for your gas, then get out and pump it before driving away. Throw in a little extra engineering and you wouldn’t even need to get out. Now, a move between ExxonMobil and WEX brings us DriverDash, a move that brings mobile payments to fleet driver gas payments.

The DriverDash system basically lets fleet drivers set up fuel transactions right from the vehicle itself, and is currently available at over 11,000 Exxon and Mobil stations throughout the United States. WEX, meanwhile, is working to roll that out to include merchants that accept WEX as a payment system, so it should be coming to plenty of other stations in fairly short order.

Its overall operation is, at last report, as simple as a thumbprint or facial recognition scan to go from zero to completed payment. Since the app’s use is contingent on a fleet manager’s invite, security becomes surprisingly robust.

WEX’s vice president of product Peggy Watson noted “DriverDash is the next evolution in fuel cards: powerful, fast, simple and convenient. We’re thrilled to continue to use our innovative technology to provide customers with modern, safe, seamless ways to pay for their fuel and capture their data, Drivers will get a faster, easier, intuitive payment experience. Businesses will see less downtime for fueling and enhanced transaction security.”

Mobile payments at gas stations are a natural fit. With the threat of drive-offs forcing gas stations to treat patrons like criminals—pay in advance only—a system like this which ensures gas stations are paid before any gas leaves the pumps is no doubt welcome. Of course, given that this is only available for fleet vehicles right now its impact is somewhat limited, but it’s a development that’s been in the works at the consumer level for some time now.

A world where we can pay for gas from our cars sounds pretty good to me, and for fleet drivers out there, it probably doesn’t sound half bad either. WEX and ExxonMobil are helping to make it happen.