In 2020, all US gas station retailers are required to installed chip card readers. Gas Pos founder Josh Smith is looking to help with this issue along with combating the estimated $400 million payment fraud that is happening across gas stations and convenience stores across the US due to duplication of credit cards. And Gas Pos has announced this week that it has raised $1 million by Merus Capital.
Gas Pos’ solutions are going to assist the roughly 60,000 independent gas stations that do not have another viable option. Gas Pos is currently the only SaaS solution available for the fuel industry to address the challenges.
With this round of funding, Gas Pos will executive on its national rollout plan to bring its affordable gas pump upgrade solution to independent retailers that are concerned about the costs associated with the Automated Fuel Dispensers (AFD) EMV (chip-based card) mandate.
One of the problems with the switch is that the per-station costs are expensive. To break concrete and replace AFD, it can cost between $25,000-$150,000 per retail location. While the larger chains owned by major gas companies can handle these costs, smaller and independent retailers could see their businesses severely impaired by these mandates.
“We provide independent gas retailers modern business software that meets the requirements of the EMV mandate. There’s no upfront cost to the merchant—we only charge a small monthly fee. Our customers love us because we help them reduce fraud while saving them an average of $100,000 in immediate capital expenditures,” said Smith.
Smith had worked closely with industry experts to create a plug-in upgrade module for existing pumps. And the idea behind Gas Pos is the reason why it was selected as one of ten startups that was accepted into the 2018 Venture Center FinTech Accelerator program. And the company joined a technology startup program established by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AECD).
“Innovation is everywhere. Josh and his team, the Gas Pos market opportunity, and their disruptive solution checks all of our boxes: Strong team, large market, and a sustainable 10x advantage,” added Merus Capital co-founding managing director Peter Hsing. “We welcome Gas Pos as our first investment in the southeastern U.S. and are excited to help them with their mission to change the basis of competition within the fuel payments industry.”
