If I ever get my phone out whilst filling up the car, a dull monotone voice usually bellows out across the petrol station PA system…
“Pump 4, put your phone away please.”
Now though, it seems that some petrol stations actually want you to use your smartphone. A new system, working in conjunction with your PayPal account, means that you can scan the QR code on the side of the pump and pay for petrol or diesel that way. This will let you use the cash you earned from the sale of that dodgy Christmas present on eBay to give your car some much-needed go-go-juice.
Although we have “pay at the pump” machines already, they’re usually powered by the same processor that you found in a 1984 calculator and regularly break down. This new system by Shell and PayPal should mean a faster payment process, plus you can pay from the comfort of your nice warm car.
Let’s just hope that the lady standing at the pump next to you doesn’t think your snapping a photo of her bottom while she fills her car up.
“I’m taking a photo of the pump love, honest…”
Yeah, that defence didn’t work for me either.
A report by The Telegraph states that the “majority” of the 1000 Shell stations will let you choose a pump via the app and then fill up.
After a successful pilot in 2013, the service will be available to Shell Drivers Club members from April and then nationwide later in 2015 through both the PayPal app and the Shell Motorist app.