Kroger Upgrading 10,000 Fuel Dispensers for EMV

CINCINNATI — The Kroger Co. struck a deal with Wayne Fueling Systems for an EMV upgrade of 10,000 automated fuel dispensers at more than 2,100 of its locations.

Under this agreement, Wayne will provide the new Wayne iX Pay T7 secure payment terminal retrofit kit for many of Kroger’s legacy fuel dispensers in the field, regardless of original equipment manufacturer; EMV card readers; the Wayne Connect IP-485 network solution; jade boards; and other iX Pay secure payment platform upgrades for non-PCI locations.

“We selected Wayne because of its comprehensive solution that can be applied to all fuel points, regardless of dispenser brand,” said Kirk Ball, chief technology officer for Kroger.

EMV is an acronym for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, the three companies that originally created the security standard. To avoid the possibility of being held financially responsible for fraudulent credit card and debit card transactions at the pump, convenience store retailers need to upgrade their fuel pumps to be EMV ready by Oct. 1, 2017.

“We are excited to help Kroger deploy EMV in the U.S. region with our Wayne solution. Kroger has been an exceptional customer and we look forward to building this relationship even further,” said Bill Reichhold, Wayne’s vice president of North America.

Austin, Texas-based Wayne Fueling Systems is one of the largest suppliers of fuel dispensers, payment terminals, forecourt control devices, point-of-sale and other measurement and control solutions.

Cincinnati-based Kroger operates a total of 2,778 retail food stores under a variety of banner names in 35 states and the District of Columbia. This includes 786 convenience stores in 19 states under six banners: Kwik Shop, Loaf N' Jug, Quik Stop Markets, Tom Thumb Food Stores, Turkey Hill Minit Markets and Smith's Express.