I’ve always loved Jaguar cars and now I think I need a new one. The latest Jaguar XE, XF and F-PACE are the first in the world to have in-car payments for fuel, although only at Shell petrol stations. Sadly you still have to get out of the car to top up, but you can jump straight back in, confirm the amount to be paid and drive off. There’s no queuing to pay and if you have kids asleep in the car you don’t have to leave them to visit the kiosk.
Drivers can use PayPal or Apple Pay via their car’s touchscreen at Shell petrol stations, later in the year Android Pay will also be added. It all works through the Shell app, one of several updates to Jaguar’s F-PACE, XF and XE models designed to make customers’ lives simpler. Rather than using a card at the pump, or queuing in the forecourt shop, owners who install the Shell app can simply drive up to any pump at a Shell service station.
The Shell app with in-car cashless payments will be available to download in the UK from today and will be rolled out to additional markets globally during 2017. As well as the latest Jaguars, in car payments will also be added to the latest Land Rover models.
“In a world where cash is no longer king, customers are increasingly using electronic payments and contactless cards. Making a payment directly from a car’s touchscreen will make refuelling quicker and easier. With this new system you can choose any pump on the forecourt and pay for the fuel even if you’ve forgotten your wallet or can’t find your credit or debit card.”
– Peter Virk, Jaguar Land Rover’s Director of Connected Car and Future Technology
It’s worth noting that it’s features like this which will keep PayPal and even Apple Pay and Android Pay more popular than Amazon Payments. If you’re buying your petrol with PayPal why wouldn’t you also use PayPal on a retailers website in preference to Amazon Payments? This is one of Amazon’s biggest challenges as discussed in today’s Amazon Payments article.