Total access

Continuing initiatives to set themselves apart from their competitors in the fuel industry locally, last Tuesday, Total Jamaica Limited launched its fuelling card in Jamaica. Held at the Legacy Suite of The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston, the launch attracted a number of persons from the automotive industry,

The Total Card, which enables motorists to purchase fuel and other items from Total service stations across the island, uses smart chip technology. At the launch, the card was presented as being convenient to use, putting individuals and business owners in total control of their personal vehicle or entire fleet's fuel consumption.

It is also being billed as the perfect tool for safer and convenient refuelling.

electronic chip

The card uses an intelligent electronic chip that is operated on real-time point of sales terminals installed at Total service stations in Jamaica and networked to the head office on Hope Road in Kingston. It comes in prepaid and postpaid formats and is equipped with a number of tamper-proof security protocols.

Network manager of Total Jamaica Limited, Howard Henry, emphasised the integrity of the card. "One of the important features of the card is the generation of anomaly reports. The moment something is not consistent with the parameters you set for this card, then there will be an anomaly report," he said.

The cardholder is able to keep close tabs on usage themselves. "Each time you go online, the system will tell you if a person tried to enter the pin more than once and failed, or if persons enter a mileage that is inconsistent with the mileage that the vehicle should be doing based on its last fill-up," Henry said.

security measure

Another security measure is blocking of the card if the incorrect pin is entered three times consecutively. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is also employed to ensure that the correct card is being used for the vehicle being supplied with fuel.

A level of customisation is available to tailor the card to the holder's requirements. "You can create a parameter if you want the card to access fuel only, store supplies, lubricants or just fuel or all of the above," Henry continued, explaining that once the card is used to purchase anything outside of the established parameters, it is then blocked.

The Total Card has been launched in other countries, among them Zambia, Cameroon and Ghana.