The Google Play marketplace has announced an update to the Orlen Mobile app, which includes an interesting new functionality - Orlen Pay. It allows customers to pay for fuel bought at Poland's largest filling station chain right at the dispenser.
How does it work? After installing the Orlen Pay app you will need to register an account. The app will ask you to provide basic personal information, like your full name and address, as well as the name of your company if you are a business owner and want to receive invoices for your fuel in order to write it off as an expense. At the end of this process you will be asked to enter a code received in a text message.
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The second part of the Orlen Pay activation is connecting a payment card to the app. For that Orlen Mobile uses the services of the company operating Przelewy24. You will need to enter your card number, expiration date and security code. Then you will authorize the whole process with the use of the 3D Secure procedure.
After filling up your car at the station you will have to launch the app and select the Orlen Pay module in the bottom right corner of the Orlen Mobile main screen. Then, using your smartphone's camera, scan the QR code on the dispenser you used and confirm the payment. You can then leave the station without going to the checkout.
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The Polish fuel company announced the introduction of Orlen Pay in the spring of this year. Before that, Orlen was in conflict with the operator of another payment app, JustDrive. ITMagination, the company behind it, introduced app payments at Orlen stations last February. After a few days the functionality was turned off, and soon after the app disappeared from app stores.
Paying for gas via a smartphone app is not a new service on the Polish market. Orlen offered the possibility before with the Vitay app. However, it was only available to business customers. This was due to tax regulations that require businesses to give individual customers printed receipts.
A solution for this problem was found later on. Orlen Pay most likely uses a process in which a receipt is printed, and then automatically used to issue an invoice, which in turn can be sent to the customer electronically. The receipt is discarded, but the station owner keeps an electronic copy of it in the system. This mechanism was also used by the operator of the Tankuj24 app, which was available to Avia station customers. However, the app is no longer in use.
