- Pay by Plate will enable Circle K customers to pay for fuel using sign recognition and a mobile app, offering a completely frictionless customer experience
- Circle K becomes first fuel retailer to offer Pay by Plate payment technology to European customers on a larger scale
- After a succesful pilot in Norway, Pay by Plate technology is now being introduced across our network in Sweden
This announcement makes Circle K the first fuel retailer to introduce this new and innovative technology across a fullnational network. Pay by Plate is an innovative payment technology, which will enable Circle K customers to pay for fuel using sign recognition and a mobile app, offering a completely frictionless customer experience. It marks a key step on Circle K's journey towards enhancing its forecourt offering and ensuring it meets the future needs of customers.
Pay by Plate, which has been piloted successfully in select Circle K stores in Norway, officially launches in Sweden on April 22. Based on customer adaption to this new and easy fueling experience, the plan is to roll out across wider parts of the Circle K network in the coming years.
The service is easy to use with no card or PIN needed for each transaction. Customers simply drive onto the forecourt, fill up with fuel and, through number plate recognition, pay for the fuel on the Circle K Easy Fuel app.
The technology behind Pay by Plate aligns with established number plate recognition technology frequently deployed in the operation of road tolls and parking garages/carparks across Europe and will be familiar to many European motorists.
Deb Hall Lefevre, Chief Information Officer, Circle K stated: "At Circle K, we know the forecourt of today is not the forecourt of tomorrow and we are committed to evolving the forecourt experience for our customers through innovation. The need for change and a move towards a more frictionless forecourt experience is driven by the clear changes we see in consumer behaviour. As market leaders, we feel it is our responsibility to continue pushing forward the development of the forecourt and convenience retail space and ensure we are adapting today to meet the future needs of our customers."
Hans-Olav Høidahl, Executive Vice President Operations Europe,Circle K added: "We are really excited to launch our new Pay by Plate technology in Sweden. At Circle K, we pride ourselves on understanding our customers, and we know they are becoming increasingly focused on ease, speed, consistency, and quality of service. The expansion of Pay by Plate will allow us to meet this demand, further simplify and enhance the customer experience as we differentiate our forecourt offering."
The forecourt at Circle K is also evolving in line with broader global imperatives as the world comes together in a concerted effort to tackle climate change in a meaningful way. Circle K has a pivotal role to play in managing the transition from fossil fuel to electrification and sustainable fuel alternatives and takes pride in leading the transition to seamless solutions for its customers. Increased sustainability is integratal to our mission of making our customers' lives a little easier every day.
"Our vision for our Circle K forecourt offering is based on delivering the very best customer experience, the best product range to match the current and future energy needs of our customers," Hans-Olav Høidahl concluded.
About Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.
Couche-Tard is the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry. Circle K is its global brand outside of Quebec, Canada. Couche-Tard is a global leader in convenience and fuel retail, operating in 26 countries and territories, with more than 14,200 stores, of which approximately 10,800 offer road transportation fuel. With its well-known Couche-Tard and Circle K banners, it is the largest independent convenience store operator in terms of the number of company-operated stores in the United States and it is a leader in the convenience store industry and road transportation fuel retail in Canada, Scandinavia, the Baltics, as well as in Ireland. It also has an important presence in Poland and Hong Kong. Approximately 135,000 people are employed throughout its network.
