After refueling, simply pay quickly from the car on your smartphone and drive on or go shopping in the store–sounds like the future? With PACE Drive, that’s already possible today. Since the launch of the app in Germany at the end of 2019, the network of gas stations where you can use the new technology has already spread to 8 countries in Europe. Now Kostner in Vahrn is also becoming part of the acceptance network.

Contactless payment in general has already become more and more the norm: In Italy, the total transaction volume of contactless payments more than doubled between 2018 and 2020 alone, according to the Innovative Payments Observatory of the Politecnico University of Milan. What is new, however, is that this can now no longer only be done at the cash register, but in the car or at the gas pump via an app.

All the user has to do is install the free PACE Drive app, register once for payment at gas stations, and finally select one of the various payment methods, including PayPal, Apple Pay, or credit card. Once at the gas station, the payment process is simple and intuitive: Before filling up, the user selects the gas pump; after filling up, the transaction is authorized on the smartphone or smartwatch, and the journey can continue.

With the modern way of payment, we can offer a new, innovative experience.

Alex Pörnbacher, Managing Director of Kostner Service GmbH

With Kostner, this now also works at one of the most modern and environmentally friendly service stations in South Tyrol. The traditional family business from the region is now one of the gas stations that accept this modern method of payment. This means that this innovation can already become a reality for more and more people in northern Italy as well.

All this is made possible by connecting the PACE Drive app to the Connected Fueling platform developed by PACE, Europe’s leading technological platform for mobile payment at the pump.

“We have a tradition of satisfying our customers in South Tyrol with the best service,” says Alex Pörnbacher, Managing Director of Kostner Service GmbH, “So we are all the more pleased to become part of the network. With the modern way of payment, we can offer a new, innovative experience.” “In order to offer our PACE Drive app to more and more customers, we continue to expand outside of Germany,” says Philip Blatter, one of the founders and CEOs of PACE Telematics, “through the collaboration with Kostner, Connected Fueling is now coming to Italy!”