Ease2pay is a recently founded financial technology (Fintech) company in Rotterdam. This fintech company came up with the idea to develop a payment app for both refueling and parking. This new business model actually really changed the retail industry. This is due to technological changes such as IoT (internet of things) and payment innovations. Why is this disruptive payment service so different? This service makes mobile payment easy, favourable and available for every traveller. Old pin terminals and cash registers will not be used anymore. Next to that, this app allows customers to order, pay and save loyalty points at the same time. By using this app, you do not have to stand in line while refueling your vehicle. Moreover, you are now able select the pump station from your car by using the app. You can refuel your car at 600+ petrol stations, which are located in 140+ cities in Rotterdam (Ease2pay, n.d.)
Shift to more consumer-oriented services
The definition has changed in recent years. Formerly, the term referred to the way Fintechs used to operate. Their main goal is to optimize and automate the delivery and use of financial services. These services make it easier for others (firms, consumers) to control their financial operations and processes. Nowadays, Fintechs are more consumer-oriented and deliver more consumer-oriented services (Kagan, 2020).
Age of the customer
This disruptive payment service of Ease2pay has more benefits than making mobile payment easy to use, convenient and available for everybody. We are in the age of the customer. This means that customers, and not companies, are driving business decisions. By using this disruptive payment service, it is possible to gather data and gain more knowledge and insights of the end consumer. This will definitely help companies, like Ease2pay, to provide better services in the future.
Figure
Smit, M. 2021. Bizarre koersexplosie Rotterdamse betaalapp Ease2pay. Assessed: 10th of September 2021 by https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/economie/beurs/artikel/5207925/koersexplosie-betaalapp-ease2pay
References
Ease2pay. N.d. Assessed: 10t of September 2021 by https://ease2pay.eu
Kagan, J. 2020. Financial Technology & Automated Investing. Assessed: 10th of September 2021 by https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fintech.asp
Really interesting and informative post. I had never heard of this application or any similar ones but now I can definitely imagine this app being developed in Europe and elsewhere. And it is definitely on topic as we are currently transforming our ways of paying and seeing more instant mobile payments methods being developped/improved (like WeChat where you can practically Pay for anything and anywhere including stores using only your phone and QR code). Though, I’m not sure it will completely delete waiting in line but it will definitely make it quicker. I am also looking forward to how they will modify their application to include Electric cars and charging stations, do you know if they have already done it yet ? Also can the application tell you if a lot of cars are already at the station you are going at ? I have a hard time imagining how the app can tell you about parking spots if only a handful of users are on the app? I think the application seems really interesting and a lot of features can be included or added. Definitely looking forward to where this is going!
Very interesting case! I really like it that you took a local business case to illustrate new business models. It is refreshing and intelligent that the app allows you to pay without leaving your car. I can imagine what a tremendous amount of valuable data the app is gathering about their customers and in that way offer more personalised services to them. Every time customers are fuelling their cars, the app exactly knows what route they are driving and what amount of fuel they need each time. I think there is even more opportunities for gathering data when offering deals on snacks and drinks in the app for example. This way personalised deals could be offered to the customer and other stakeholders like the petrol stations are also benefitting more. Nevertheless, I am not convinced how this app provides more value to parking than existing more established apps like Parkmobile. I believe the switching costs are quite high in this industry and takes a stronger USP than just comfort of paying to overtake competition. It would have been great if some figures were used to demonstrate why this is or is not the case. Other than that, very pleasant and educational article to read!
Interesting and well-written article! Good to hear about this interesting company. I had never heard about this company before, even though it is Rotterdam based. I believe Ease2pay did a good job by offering a mobile application which eases the process of fueling and finding a car spot in a (crowded) city. These are both activities people prefer not to spend too much time on and Ease2pay eases this process for their consumers.
There is one thing which I have doubts about; the enormous competition within this specific market. I believe there are a lot of companies offering a similar mobile application. I’m curious how Ease2pay is planning to handle this competition and make use of a competitive advantage. Coming back to the article itself; I think you did a great job. The article is interesting, fun to read and informational.