Wawa & Gilbarco Partner for Fuel Dispenser EMV Upgrades
WAWA, Pa. — Wawa Inc. is teaming up with Gilbarco Veeder-Root as its exclusive dispenser and payment-terminal provider for forecourt EMV acceptance, beginning with the convenience retailer's Florida network of more than 100 convenience stores.
Wawa is leveraging Gilbarco's industry-leading FlexPay IV payment terminal to begin its dispenser upgrades as the October 2017 EMV liability shift date approaches.
The retailer is also maximizing the technology investment by including NFC contactless readers to enhance the consumer fueling experience and improve sales and loyalty.
"We chose Gilbarco because they have a long history of providing us with leading-edge technology and solutions built to withstand harsh forecourt environments," said Brian Schaller, vice president of fuel for Wawa. "Gilbarco has proven to be an excellent supplier, and we are confident in their payment solutions to support our EMV upgrade plans for the forecourt."
Wawa's forecourt EMV upgrades will include Gilbarco's FlexPay IV payment terminal, both factory-installed into new Encore 700 S dispensers, as well as payment terminal upgrades for legacy dispensers in the field.
In addition to enabling EMV (chip) payments at the pump, FlexPay IV provides gas stations and convenience stores the ability — through the Applause Media System — to engage consumers at the pump with product advertisements, infotainment and digital coupons that help drive consumers from the pump and into the convenience store, according to Gilbarco.
Jointly developed with Verifone, FlexPay IV from Gilbarco is the first PCI PTS 4.x certified fuel dispenser, payment terminal in the United States that supports EMV, NFC, mobile wallets, encryption and 2D barcode scanning, as well as future regulatory changes.
"We are pleased to advance our strong partnership with Wawa on [its] EMV upgrade needs. They continue to be a leader in our industry and are taking advantage of equipment upgrades driven by EMV to also improve how they interact with their customers to drive more business," said Mark Williams, vice president of marketing North America, Gilbarco Veeder-Root.
EMV is an acronym for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, the three companies that originally created the security standard. Under EMV liability shift deadlines, c-store retailers needed to upgrade their point-of-sale devices to accept chip-and-PIN cards as of Oct. 1, 2015. A similar liability shift took place on Oct. 1 of this year for ATMs and will take place Oct. 1, 2017 for automated forecourt devices.
Pennsylvania-based Wawa operates more than 700 stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida.