Oil companies flock to fuel app

Technology start-up Payment24 has recorded strong growth with its fuel management and payment app, which has been linked to a quarter of SA petrol stations.

Tech start-up Payment24 has recorded strong growth with its fuel management and payment app, which has been linked to a quarter of SA filling stations.

Shadab Rahil, co-CEO of the Cape Town-based start-up, told Business Day that about 1,200 of the roughly 5,000 service stations in the country facilitated payments using the app.

Four oil companies Engen, Caltex, Shell and BP had signed with the company, which piloted its service in 2015.

The app was launched partly to curb fraud and theft in the transport industry, since firms with large fleets of vehicles tended to overpay for fuel, Rahil said. In many cases, fleet operators spent 15% more on fuel because of fraud, sometimes as a result of collusion between drivers and petrol attendants, or credit-card malpractice.

About 35,000 vehicles, mostly trucks, now use the service, which also monitors fuel consumption. Payment24 has minority investors in the US and Germany, and offices in Berlin and San Francisco.

Outside of SA, the firm has operations in several African countries, including Kenya.

Rahil said Payment24 would also launch a fuel-payment service for consumers, whereby petrol stations would add “fasttrack” pumps that identified customers with number-plate recognition software.