Gas station price app launches in South Fla.
GetUpside, created by two Google alums, gives users inside discounts and cash back in return for boosting a station’s business.
GetUpside, a new app designed to reduce gasoline costs by giving users access to low prices not displayed on gas station signs, launched Tuesday in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
More than 350 gas stations in South Florida, including 45 in Palm Beach County, are participating.
“We are thrilled to launch GetUpside in Florida, which has a high percentage of work commuters, ride-share drivers and truckers who will benefit from GetUpside’s unique cash back platform. With year-round tourism and status as a transportation hub, Florida was an obvious choice for GetUpside’s first market expansion. We are committed to helping consumers here save and businesses here grow,” said GetUpside co-founder/CEO Alex Kinnier.
The company was started in 2016 by Kinnier and Wayne Lin, chief operating officer, who were inspired by the advertising technology they helped create while working at Google.
GetUpside’s launch into Florida is the company’s first major market expansion outside of Washington, D.C. In the DC/Maryland/ Virginia market, GetUpside has acquired 130,000 users who have saved over $1 million in cash back deals.
GetUpside, which calls itself “Priceline for gas,” incentivizes businesses to compete with each other on price in return for driving more customers to their stores.
With the free GetUpside app, customers see personalized, dis-
counted prices from hundreds of nearby gas stations of up to 25 cents cash back per gallon.
Kinnier said by offering a “secret” price to the app’s users, gas stations can offer a price their competitors cannot match because unlike the station’s sign, they cannot see what is on the app.
The consumer locates a participating station on the app, and after purchasing gas, takes a picture of the receipt and uploads it to the app.
The savings accumulate in the user’s online GetUpside account and can be cashed out at any time via check or PayPal.
In South Florida, 82 percent of residents use their car to commute to work and spend an average of $2,900 annually on gas, according to a recent survey. GetUpside was designed to help these consumers take more control over their daily expenses and earn cash back for pumping gas at their neighborhood stations.
GetUpside also helps local businesses win new customers and build repeat business, Kinnier said.
“We founded this company to bring a technology layer to local businesses to enable them to run their business more efficiently and more profitably on each transaction,” Kinnier said. “We don’t allow every station into the app.”
Gas stations using the GetUpside platform have seen an average 58 percent return on investment, so they underwrite the discount. GetUpside takes a percentage of profit generated from each transaction.
Meanwhile, consumers get paid to pump gas at the same local stations they frequent anyway.
GetUpside’s Florida launch features cash back deals at gas stations, but will eventually include consumer offers at convenience stores, car washes, restaurants, grocery stores and retail locations.
The company launched this expanded service in the Washington metro market in late 2017 with cash back offers up to 15 percent on groceries and 35 percent at restaurants.
GetUpside is available on the App Store and on Google Play.