Speedpass was a

keychain A keychain (also key fob or keyring) is a small ring or chain of metal to which several keys can be attached. The length of a keychain allows an item to be used more easily than if connected directly to a keyring. Some keychains allow one or b ...

radio-frequency identification (RFID) device introduced in 1997 by

Mobil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

(which later merged with Exxon to become ExxonMobil in 1999) for

electronic payment An e-commerce payment system (or an electronic payment system) facilitates the acceptance of electronic payment for offline transfer, also known as a subcomponent of electronic data interchange (EDI), e-commerce payment systems have become incre ...

. It was originally developed by

Verifone Verifone is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida. Verifone provides technology for electronic payment transactions and value-added services at the point-of-sale. Verifone sells merchant-operated, consume ...

. By 2004, more than seven million people possessed Speedpass tags, which could be used at approximately 10,000 Exxon,

and Esso

gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

s worldwide. Speedpass was one of the first widely deployed consumer RFID payment systems of its kind, debuting nationwide in 1997 far ahead of

VISA Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

and MasterCard RFID trials.

History

The ExxonMobil Speedpass was based on the

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globall ...

TIRIS RFID platform. It was originally designed by

in two configurations; one intended for installation inside the fuel dispensing "pump", and a convenience store model known as the Verifone RF250 (which was a redesign of the

Ingenico Ingenico is a merchant services technology company based in France, that facilitates secure electronic transactions. The company expanded as a manufacturer of point of sale (POS) payment terminals to also include complete merchant payment Saa ...

iSC250 reader for

smart cards A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...

The ExxonMobil Speedpass used a cryptographically-enabled tag with a Digital Signature Transponder (DST) which incorporated a weak, proprietary

encryption In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can decip ...

scheme to perform a challenge–response protocol. On January 29, 2005,

RSA Security RSA Security LLC, formerly RSA Security, Inc. and doing business as RSA, is an American computer and network security company with a focus on encryption and encryption standards. RSA was named after the initials of its co-founders, Ron Rive ...

and a group of students from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

broke the proprietary encryption algorithm used by the Exxon-Mobil Speedpass

They were able to successfully copy a Speedpass and use the copied RFID tag to purchase gas. In an attempt to prevent fraud, Speedpass users ultimately were required to enter their zip code into scanners at some gas stations.

Convenience Stores and the "Flying Red Horse"

At one point, Speedpass was deployed experimentally in

fast-food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast food, fast-food cuisine and has minimal Foodservice#Table service, table service. The food served ...

s and

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

s in select markets.

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

alone deployed Speedpass in over 400 restaurants in

Greater Chicago The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...

. During the 1998 development of the RF250 convenience store reader, some prototype units were shipped from Verifone in Rocklin, California, to a Verifone office in Florida. The units did not arrive on time and were thought to have been lost in transit. They were later found, and despite each unit having a Verifone logo and being encased in boxes showing the Verifone logo; the shipping company had nothing in their lost goods database showing that name. Rather, the units turned up via a query for "flying red horse", apparently since the units displayed a small

logo—and the Mobil logo was and is a red

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

. The internal codename for the project was thus changed to "Flying Red Horse" The test was deemed a failure and McDonald's removed the scanners from all their restaurants in mid-2004. Additionally, the New England grocery chain

Stop & Shop The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, known as Stop & Shop, is a regional chain of supermarkets located in the northeastern United States. From its beginnings in 1892 as a small grocery store, it has grown to include 406 stores chain-wide. Sto ...

tested Speedpass at their Boston area stores; the units were removed in early 2005. Speedpass has also been previously available through a Speedpass Car Tag and a Speedpass-enabled Timex watch.

Discontinuance and the switch to Speedpass+

ExxonMobil announced that the RFID based key tag would be fully retired by June 30, 2019. ExxonMobil directed users to use the Speedpass+ app on their smartphone. The smartphone app uses the phone's location data to pay at the pump using the app. The app detects the users location which then prompts the user to input the pump number they are using. Conversely if location services are not activated for the app, the user can scan a QR code on the pump to activate pay at the pump functionality. In the United States, the app has since been renamed the Exxon Mobil Rewards+ app, although it still utilizes the Speedpass+ functionality. In Canada, it continues to use the Speedpass+ name for its app.

References

External links

*
ExxonMobil Speedpass Location Finder site

(Retrieved May 30, 2007) {{ExxonMobil Customer loyalty programs Radio-frequency identification ExxonMobil brands Payment systems

History

Convenience Stores and the "Flying Red Horse"

Discontinuance and the switch to Speedpass+

See also

References

External links