Easily integrate your loyalty card system with petrol stations
Solution #
Today we are proud to introduce a new feature of the PTS-2 forecourt controller - ability to easily integrate to any loyalty card systems, which are used for payment for fuel. If you already have such a system developed or if you have plans to develop it - then the PTS-2 controller allows you to quickly expand your business to new petrol stations with minimal integration efforts.
How it works?
While servicing pumps at petrol stations, the PTS-2 controller is able to constantly communicate with a loyalty system server using either separate HTTP requests or a constant WebSocket connection (no need to have a static IP-address on the station).
When the nozzle is taken up on the pump and inserted in the customer's vehicle - then a reader linked to this pump starts to beep/flash requesting a customer to bring his/her tag to it for validation. Once the tag is brought to the reader - then the PTS-2 controller automatically sends a request to a fuel card system server with the following data on the customer's tag:
- tag identifier
- pump number selected
- nozzle number selected
- fuel grade ID selected
- fuel grade name selected
- price of selected fuel grade
Having received a request from the PTS-2 controller, the loyalty system server provides the following actions:
- validates whether the tag is valid and can be used for filling
- validates whether the customer is allowed to fill selected fuel grade
- validates whether the customer is allowed to fill on this petrol station
- validates customer's account type: money amount, volume, discount or any other
- validates customer's account balance remains (in case of prepaid/credit money or fuel volume wallets)
- validates the price of selected fuel grade and whether the customer has any special price due to discount, loyalty policy, happy hours, other reasons
- validates customer's details for local verification of the customer on site (if is it needed): name, phone, vehicle number, registration number, company name, any others
Having processed the request, the loyalty system server responds back to the PTS-2 controller.
If the customer's tag is valid and its account has sufficient remains on its balance - then the PTS-2 controller automatically authorizes the pump for the value of balance remains stored on customer's account (volume or money amount depending on the customer's account type) and takes into account the possible customer's special price. After the filling is finished - then the PTS-2 controller immediately uploads details on the performed pump transaction using customer's tag to the fuel loyalty system server, so that it could write off the values of dispensed volume and money amount during the filling from the customer's account.
Conclusions
All operation is very simple and includes only 2 separate requests and responses to be implemented on the loyalty system server. Having it implemented, the loyalty system can be applied the same way on any sites regardless on the models of readers used there (RFID, UHF, magnetic, others). This solution allows to validate as the customer, so as the vehicle in case of the automatic vehicles identification system usage on site.