Consumer-focused gallon-based prepaid gasoline card, system and method for a car drivers

#This invention relates to a prepaid gasoline card system and method in which a consumer may prepay for future consumption of gasoline.

#It is known that gasoline retailers use credit-card-type cards and so-called speed passes for key rings which allow consumers to quickly be identified at a dispensing or gasoline pump and then take delivery of gasoline with their account debited. These types of systems only allow a consumer to purchase or dispense gasoline at a current retail price. Even if an account is set with a fixed monetary value, the consumer, retailer, or wholesaler cannot hedge or gauge future gasoline price swings based on this system.

#An aspect of this invention is to provide a system in which a consumer can prepay for gasoline based on gallons. This would allow a consumer, retailer and/or wholesaler to gauge an amount of gasoline to be purchased instead of a monetary value of gasoline to be purchased.

#FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic flow of the system and method.

#A consumer focused gallon-based prepaid gasoline card which is used to allow a consumer to pay a specific amount for a specific number of gallons of automobile gasoline which can be redeemed at any time in the future, within the parameters of the purchase agreement (i.e. there may be a 3-24 or more month life of the card), regardless of the future on then current price of gasoline. The price to be paid by the consumer for the gas is determined at the time the card is sold and is, by definition of the transaction taking place, agreed to by both parties. A bidding system is not encompassed by such a transaction or determined price (predetermined price at the time of the gallons being dispensed). The price may be the current posted retail price of a gallon of gasoline, the retail price plus a predetermined markup amount (example: today's price plus/minus 5%) or some other predetermined method of pricing the retailer (or wholesaler) might set. The predetermined price of the gallons when dispensed is thus the posted price or a derivative of the posted price.

#The card's value is tied to gallons of gasoline as opposed to a specific dollar amount. The number of gallons is either pre-determined (a pre-printed 50-gallon card) or specified at the time of purchase, (i.e. a card that is encoded to record the purchase of 65 gallons of gasoline). The card indicates the number of gallons purchased as part of the transaction (via the card's number, its magnetic strip or a data chip). The purchaser will then utilize the card's stored value to redeem the appropriate number of gallons of-gasoline at any time in the future (within the parameters of the contract) regardless of the posted price of gasoline. Each card will have a value in gallons and a corresponding account through which the retailer is paid. When the customer uses the card to take delivery of gas, the card and its account are debited by the appropriate number of gallons. The payment account is valued in dollars, but it tracks the number of gallons redeemed. For accounting purposes—i.e., if the purchaser wants a refund on the remainder of the card's value—the card will maintain a corresponding remaining dollar value of the card tied to the dollar amount paid for or added to the card. In another embodiment, the card registers (subtracts) the number of gallons purchased rather than a specific dollar amount.

#The retailer may or may not allow the purchaser to add value (gallons) to their card at any time. The price of the gallons of gasoline added to any card will be tied to the current price set by the retailer (or wholesaler) at the time the customer seeks to add value to their card. (i.e., at the time of the initial purchase the retail price per gallon may have been $1.00 per gallon and the customer purchased 100 gallons for $100. Six months later, when the price has risen and the customer would like to add 100 gallons to their card, the cost is $125. The card, assuming it had never been used by the consumer, would then hold 200 gallons of gas for which the customer had paid $225).