New credit card and marketing solution brought into the chain. Alon USA Energy Inc. has signed a multi-year expansion and renewal agreement with Alliance Data Systems Corp. to provide co-brand and private label credit cards services for Alon’s FINA-branded convenience stores. Through this agreement, Alliance Data will provide an integrated credit and marketing solution for…

New 100% POS system assists retail tracking. Information Resources Inc. (IRI) has launched AllScan Convenience Reviews, the industry’s first service that provides 100% point-of-sale (POS)-based convenience store coverage with weekly data for more than 250 product categories and insights for more than 50 states and local markets. This cost-effective, syndicated convenience tracking service combines POS…

Credit card processing fees remain one of the top three concerns for convenience retailers—and though it seems reasonable to expect that improving data security at the point of sale would cut charges because it lowers transaction risks,experts say this is not the case. “I don’t know if anyone has ever been successful in presenting improved…

New POS and self-service retail systems installed. The Spinx Co. Inc. has made an agreement with Radiant Systems Inc. to deploy Radiant point-of-sale (POS) and customer self-service technology to more than 40 Spinx-branded locations. “The mission of The Spinx Co. is to ‘Make People’s Lives Easier,’” said Stewart Spinks, founder and CEO of The Spinx…

Chain expands its reconciliation systems to the its Eastern Division. Alimentation Couche-Tard Eastern Division has selected Trintech Group Plc’s ReconNET to automate funds reconciliation processes, monitor transactional risk and optimize the resolution and reporting of exceptions. The selection is part of an expansion; Circle K Divisions in Arizona and Mac’s Convenience Stores in Ohio currently…

PCATS members receive intellectual property regarding XML. Gilbarco Inc. will make two key patents available by non-enforcement to the industry for implementations of the Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards (PCATS) Open Site Architecture (OSA), contained in the PCATS Fueling Point Specification. The Gilbarco patents are U.S. Patent Numbers 6,571,201 and 6,820,041 filed in August…

Major oil brands step up for upgrades. Gilbarco has released to production Passport Version 6 software for ExxonMobil, Chevron, Sunoco and Valero-branded retailers, as well as independently branded retailers who use the Concord BuyPass network. Passport Version 6 has been validated for compliance with Visa’s Payment Application Best Practices (PABP). The point of sale (POS)…

Brandon Taylor of Ogden, Utah learned first hand today why using his KickBack rewards card pays in more ways than one. Taylor was selected as the 2007 National Grand Prize winner of a trip for him and his family to Hawaii courtesy of participating merchants in the KickBack Points Customer Rewards Network. He was awarded…

Young adults, Hispanics eEmerge, charity rewards overrated, according to COLLOQUY. In era of loyalty program saturation, one size will no longer work for all. That was the key message delivered by loyalty marketing consultancy and publisher COLLOQUY. The group’s latest research views loyalty marketing through the demographics prism to yield these revelations: * A surprisingly…

Houston task force says security cameras, clearing clutter could cut crime at the shops. Convenience store owners could reduce their vulnerability to crime by installing security cameras and clearing clutter from their windows, Houston Mayor Bill White’s Task Force on Convenience Store Security reported. The 38-member task force, comprising city officials, the Houston Police Department…