Yemisi Izuora
OVH Energy in collaboration with Africa’s leading integrated payments and transaction switching company, Interswitch and EVSL has brought a new innovation into the country’s downstream petroleum sector payment system.
The unveiling of a new petrol retail purchasing initiative in Lagos Tuesday followed a strategic partnership earlier sealed between Interswitch, and EVSL, developers of FuelVoucher in 2015.
The partnership also involved 2 other leading downstream oil marketing firms, Forte Oil and Rain Oil with the aim of broadening distribution network of the electronic fuel purchasing solution.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs. Olaposi Williams, acting CEO OVH Energy Marketing stated that “We are happy to be a part of this partnership, as it allows us to provide innovative solutions to enhance consumer lifestyle while expanding the frontiers of our fuel retail operations. At OVH Marketing, we are committed to amplifying solutions that make life easy for our customers in today’s current retail fueling space. Now consumers can redeem fuel purchased using the fuel vouchers at key Oando filling station across the country”.
Also speaking on this progressive milestone in the lifecycle of the solution, Interswitch’s Divisional CEO for Industry Vertical Markets, Chinyere Don-Okhuofu explained the rationale driving Interswitch’s partnership with Fuel voucher, as well as the tremendous potential for accelerating distribution of the service offered by the alignment with 2 of the leading downstream marketing organization is Nigeria.
According to her; “As a business focused on providing products and services that are highly tailored to the African market, Interswitch has partnered with EVSL to launch this initiative in line with our desire to develop innovative payment products and services, facilitate transactions and strengthen the CBN cashless initiative. Following this alliance, FuelVoucher’s online and mobile fuel purchasing systems have been integrated with PoS terminals deployed by Interswitch to service stations across the country.
Commenting, CEO of EVSL added that “This initiative will allow consumers to make payments for petroleum products on all Interswitch payment channels including Quickteller, ATMs and Mobile, and vouchers can be redeemed at every petrol station with the Interswitch PoS. As a result, anybody can easily buy fuel, gas or kerosene on-the-go via the FuelVoucher mobile app at any time of the day and FuelVouchers can be remotely sent to friends, family, domestic staff or drivers with ease”.
Essentially, the solution will also enable petrol stations around the country run overnight by mopping up cash and accepting Fuel Vouchers thereby eliminating cash handling costs and risks. Because everything is automated and electronic, establishments no longer need to print paper vouchers with associated costs and reconciliation headaches. Corporate customers can also broaden their loyalty point’s redemption options to include Fuel Vouchers, and they can also easily manage and control fuel purchase with analytical insights to help in fleet management. This partnership further buttresses the industry leading position of Interswitch on the attainment of a cashless Nigeria through the innovative use of technology.
The fuel voucher solution is currently available across OVH and Forte Oil stations in Lagos, with aggressive plans for national coverage before the end of 2017.