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Posted By

Aaron Mireles

PODCAST HOUSTON FINTECH STARTUP TAPS INTO NEW TECH TO MODERNIZE 'DAILY JOURNEYS'

Before Don Frieden started his company, gas stations hadn’t innovated their payment technology
since 1997. He knew that needed to change.

Original Post | Innovationmap

Before Don Frieden started his company, gas stations hadn't innovated their payment technology since 1997. He knew that needed to change.

P97, founded in 2012, exists to use innovative technologies to simplify and energize daily journeys, Frieden explains on the Houston Innovators Podcast.

The fast-growing company — which has nearly 200 employees, most of whom work from Houston — has raised over $100 million in venture funding, according to Crunchbase, most recently closing a $40 million series C round earlier this year. This funding has supported P97 as its expanded its technology, even expanding outside of gas station payments and into other sectors, like consumer packaged goods, mobile app development, and alternative fuel sources.

Part of what P97 is focused on too is adapting new technologies, including biometrics, and applying them to the payments world. Voice-enabled payments is something in particular that Frieden is working on.

"One of the things we’re most excited about is voice enable payments through our partnership with Amazon's Alexa," he explains. "The landscape of payments at gas stations underwent this next revolution, and we're using cutting-edge speech recognition and artificial intelligence to allow drivers to pay for fuel just using their voice.

"It makes the process faster and more efficient, and is completely hands-free," he continues, explaining that biometrics are also safer compared to card transactions. "From this time I say, 'Alexa, buy gas,' six seconds later, the gas would be turned on and any loyalty rewards I have would be applied, all from the comfort of my car."

Frieden shares more about the future of P97, payments, and the energy industry as it intersects with P97 — including the future of alternative fuels — on the podcast. Listen to the interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.

Got mobile on your mind? Given that mobile payments are predicted to be nearing their tipping point, there are very few businesses that don't. Getting ready for a mobile payment program is imminent, but it doesn't have to be daunting. 

P97's PetroZone® combines cloud-based mobile payments with a powerful digital marketing platform, not only equipping your business for mobile, but helping you create meaningful relationships with your consumers through contextual commerce.

Ready to get started?

A simple review of your site systems will determine just how close your mobile payments program is.

Below is a list of PetroZone® integrations for retail fueling POS systems.

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In many cases, a simple software update is all you need to get mobile ready, and to satisfy current EMV requirements to avoid liability. P97 will activate your system remotely with the help of a store associate for transaction testing.

No system hardware to purchase. No costly upgrades to your pumps. EMV and PCI compliance, mobile payment and digital marketing ready.

What are you waiting for?

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