Case Study
From pump to in‑store to online: One unified payments experience
A leading fuel and convenience retailer—with more than 2,500 locations and one of the largest pizza chains in the US—struggled with a fragmented payments infrastructure across channels. Managing transactions for in‑store retail, fuel pumps, commercial fuel programs, and a fast‑growing mobile channel had become increasingly complex. These disconnected systems created operational inefficiencies and made it harder to deliver seamless customer experiences or strengthen loyalty at scale.
The challenge
Fragmented systems holding back growth
The company struggled with a disjointed payments environment driven by operating two separate POS systems—for retail and commercial fuel. This dual‑system setup created operational inefficiencies and complicated employee training.
Customer data silos also prevented the business from gaining a unified view of customer behavior across in‑store, fuel pumps, mobile, and eCommerce channels and limited the effectiveness of marketing and loyalty programs.
The solution
Consolidated systems, strengthened security
ACI Worldwide delivered a unified omnichannel payments orchestration platform, consolidating payment systems into a single, secure infrastructure.
The solution integrated key ACI capabilities, including omni‑tokenization, which is a unified token vault that securely and consistently identifies customers across mobile, in‑store, and eCommerce transactions. P2PE secures payments at fuel pumps and retail POS systems, protecting transactions across touchpoints. ACI’s ownership of PCI-compliant data centers further reinforced operational reliability and security. These capabilities strengthened security and significantly reduced PCI complexity and audit requirements for the merchant.
ACI also enabled seamless interoperability through close collaboration with key industry ecosystem partners, including fuel pump vendor Gilbarco, POS supplier NCR Voyix, and reward program solutions provider Paytronix. This comprehensive solution allowed the retailer to unify payments data, simplify operations, and support its digital and loyalty initiatives for both consumer and commercial business lines.
The results
Operational gains and a unified customer view
By implementing ACI’s orchestration platform, the retailer realized significant operational and strategic benefits. With all transactions tied together through omni‑tokenization, the business gained new visibility into customer behavior through a single customer view, enabling more effective marketing and loyalty initiatives. This led to an improvement in overall customer experience.
Enhanced security through P2PE and tokenization reduced both fraud risk and the cost and effort associated with PCI compliance by limiting sensitive data from entering the merchant environment. ACI’s PCI‑compliant data centers further supported reliability and reduced operational risk.
The retailer streamlined operations across its 2,500 stores, and simplified the employee training process. The strengthened payments infrastructure supported rapid digital growth and a record of mobile transactions on Black Friday. This demonstrates the scalability of the ACI platform.
- Unified payments: Single platform for in-store, fuel, mobile, and eCommerce transactions
- Scalable growth: Ability to support surges in mobile and eCommerce transactions; commercial fuel
support - A single customer view: Cross-channel insights that enable effective marketing and loyalty programs, improving the overall customer experience
- Stronger security: Enhanced protection and reduced fraud risk across channels
- Reduced compliance burden: Lower PCI-related costs and fewer audits
- Operational efficiency: Streamlined processes and simplified employee training
Industry:
Fuel and convenience
Company Size:
More than 40,000 employees
Location:
2,500+ stores across the US
Solution:
