Lynch Oil to Be First Petro Retailer to Implement EMV Acceptance

PRINCETON, N.J. & SOUTHLAKE, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE:HPY), one of the nation’s largest payment processors, and The Pinnacle Corporation, a leading supplier of technology automation solutions for retail convenience stores and fuel inventory management, today announced they have launched the first integrated point-of-sale (POS) system for petroleum retailers that is compliant with Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV), a global standard for credit payment cards based on chip card technology.

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Heartland and Pinnacle’s Palm POS™ system provides petro retailers with the highest level of protection available against card-present data fraud and will accept EMV chip-cards for indoor and contact transactions.

Petro retailer Lynch Oil of Burley, Idaho is upgrading its POS system to accept EMV payments with the help of Heartland and Pinnacle. When completed, the company will be the first petro retailer to use the EMV POS system at six Mr. Gas locations in southern Idaho.

Key Highlights/Facts

• To be compliant with payment network EMV requirements, petro retailers were encouraged to upgrade indoor POS software and hardware by October 2015 and outdoor pay-at-the-pump equipment by October 2017.
• EMV compliance is not a U.S. government mandate and it is up to petro retailers to implement EMV-enabled terminals. However, petro retailers that decide to implement EMV technology will avoid liability for counterfeit card-present data fraud while boosting consumer confidence.
• The Pinnacle Palm POS™ is the fastest, most robust touch screen point-of-sale in the market. Designed and developed specifically for the convenience petroleum industry, the Palm POS touch screen interface and modular flexibility ensures petro merchants’ operations are smooth and consumers receive superior service.
• The Heartland and Pinnacle Palm POS solution has been EMV certified by American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa. Cardholders can now use their EMV credit cards at appropriate petro retailers equipped with Heartland and the Pinnacle Palm POS solution.
• Heartland and the Pinnacle Palm POS solution is available today for petro and convenience store merchants. Merchants can contact their Heartland relationship manager or a member of the Heartland petro/c-store team at 888-963-3600.

Supporting Quotes

• Nick Lynch, Owner, Lynch Oil, and President, Mr. Gas

“We do our best to be the first to offer the most effective advancements in card payments and point-of-sale systems especially when it enhances our customers’ experiences at our Mr. Gas locations and protects their card data from hackers. Pinnacle and Heartland help enable us to be the first petroleum retailer to have a POS system for EMV acceptance in the United States.”

• Gray Taylor, Executive Director, Conexxus

“I am pleased that the industry is finally seeing an implementable certification to meet the compliance date. We have lots of retailers who have made, and continue to make, significant investments in equipment upgrades, but cannot avoid the liability shift due to lack of certification. The fact that our industry has but one fully-certified solution one month after indoor liability shift and 23 months before Automated Fuel Dispensers shift, shows how inadequately implementation was planned for our market. Despite the late specifications and convoluted certification process, it is great to see how Conexxus members – like Pinnacle and Heartland – are pushing through it all to deliver solutions.”

• Drew Mize, Chief Operating Officer, Pinnacle Corporation

“Leading the way in this enormous, industry-wide project to deliver end-to-end, fully integrated point-of-sale to payment host EMV transaction processing capability exemplifies our commitment to our clients and the industry to be the best technology partner option available. EMV has been a tough road for every technology supplier in our space and it’s far from over, but to be the first retail convenience specific point-of-sale platform to achieve a fully integrated EMV certification from the card brands demonstrates our nimbleness and ability to keep our clients on the leading edge competitively, whether that’s adding to the top-line or reducing potential fraud liability expenses.”

• Michael Lawler, President, Strategic Markets Group, Heartland

“Our collaboration with Pinnacle has resulted in us being the first to offer an integrated point-of-sale system compliant with EMV for petroleum retailers. Petro and convenience store merchants will want to be viewed as a safe place to shop and will be influenced by the growing awareness of their customers. Those that do implement an EMV POS solution, like Lynch Oil, may benefit from a reduction in card fraud, decreased requests for copies in relation to chargebacks, fewer disputes and the opportunity to update terminals for other capabilities like Near Field Communication contactless acceptance.”

About Heartland

Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. (NYSE:HPY), one of the largest payment processors in the United States, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing and security technology through Heartland Secure™ and its comprehensive Heartland breach warranty. Heartland also offers point of sale, mobile commerce, e-commerce, marketing solutions, payroll solutions, and related business solutions and services to more than 300,000 business and educational locations nationwide.

A FORTUNE 1000 company, Heartland is the founding supporter of the Merchant Bill of Rights, a public advocacy initiative that educates merchants about fair credit and debit card processing practices. Heartland also established the Sales Professional Bill of Rights to advocate for the rights of sales professionals everywhere.

About Pinnacle

The Pinnacle Corporation provides leading-edge automation technology to the rapidly evolving convenience store and petroleum industries. Pinnacle delivers products that automate the broad spectrum of convenience store operations and supply chain management of fuel operations.

Nationwide, Pinnacle’s products and services are used daily in thousands of convenience outlets to automate and improve their store operations, and by fuel marketers to increase their efficiency in the complex management of fuel delivery.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151112005270/en/

Heartland
Kevin Petschow, +1.312.205.1607
Kevin.Petschow@e-hps.com
or
The Pinnacle Corporation
Adam Mitchell +1.817.795.5555 ext. 258
amitchell@ec2-3-137-192-69.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com
or
G&S Business Communications
Chandra Hayslett, +1.212.697.2600, ext. 1267
chayslett@gscommunications.com

Source: Heartland Payment Systems

Southlake, Texas – September 17, 2015 – The Pinnacle Corporation concluded its 25^th annual Summit User Conference with record attendance and strong enthusiasm for the expertise Pinnacle provides their clients in the convenience store and fuel services industries.

Technical sessions on topics such as Enterprise Performance Management™ (EPM), Pinnacle’s business intelligence tool, were highly anticipated. William Baine, CEO of Git’ N Go Market in Clinton, Tennessee commented he “Cannot wait to talk about the Pinnacle product that makes me money – EPM.” Less experienced users also benefited from the comprehensive instruction they received. “Ah-ha moment of the day: Finding out we’ve only scratched the surface of using EPM said Michael Hines, Accounting Manager for Oneida Indian Nation/SavOn in Oneida, New York.

The three day event offered 32 technical sessions covering product lines serving retail c-store, fuel solutions and point of sale (POS). The industry’s regulatory and technical environment is rapidly evolving; the timely information provided makes the annual conference a standout event for many. Kim Gutgesell, IT Management Analyst for Petro Star Inc., in Anchorage, Alaska observed, “After being away from Summit (and the c-store industry) for a few years, I sure do have a lot to catch up on!”

Keynote industry speakers included Gray Taylor, Executive Director of Conexxus, and Leroy Kelsey, Director of Industry Analytics for NACS. Taylor gave attendees a wake-up call on the future of EMV and fraud syndicates. Kelsey furnished analytics with detailed insight into c-store consumer demographics and purchasing trends. Jenny Bullard, Chief Information Officer at Flash Foods in Waycross, Georgia served as the master of ceremonies. William McKnight of the McKnight Consulting Group addressed a general session on the importance of data as a commodity.

John Brenkus, best known as the host of ESPN’s Emmy Award Winning “Sports Science” presented information from his television show to draw parallels between success in athletics and the business world. A highlight for many was an evening at Circle R Ranch in Flower Mound, Texas where Pinnacle hosted a night of Western themed dining, dancing and live music.

About The Pinnacle Corporation

The Pinnacle Corporation provides leading-edge automation technology to the rapidly evolving convenience store and petroleum industries. Pinnacle delivers products that automate the broad spectrum of convenience store operations and supply chain management of fuel operations.

Nationwide, Pinnacle’s products and services are used daily in thousands of convenience outlets to automate and improve their store operations, and by fuel marketers to increase their efficiency in the complex management of fuel delivery.

Press Contact:

Adam Mitchell
Marketing Manager
The Pinnacle Corporation
1-817-795-5555 ext. 258
amitchell@ec2-3-137-192-69.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com

 

 

 

 

 

Automation technology solution provider further distinguishes itself by earning Gold status in the Microsoft Partner Network

ARLINGTON, Texas, June 24 — The Pinnacle Corporation, the leading supplier of automation technology to the convenience retail and petroleum industries, announced that it has renewed its certification status in the Microsoft Partner Network, and earned the highest (Gold) level status available. This achievement demonstrates Pinnacle’s ongoing ability to meet and exceed Microsoft customers’ evolving needs in today’s dynamic business environment. To achieve this task Pinnacle completed a set of tests and qualifications to prove a sophisticated level of technology expertise, marking Pinnacle’s 11^th consecutive year in earning its way into the Microsoft’s Partner Network program.

“We continue to invest in Microsoft’s Partner Network each year and to achieve the levels we are able to obtain is a significant investment on our part. Our partnership with Microsoft demonstrates our ongoing commitment to evolving technologies that become part of the solutions we deliver to the c-store and petroleum markets, and affords us a level of resources and training from Microsoft professionals that we would not otherwise be able to obtain.” said Drew Mize, Pinnacle’s Chief Operating Officer.

Microsoft Partners receive a rich set of benefits, including access, training, and support for Microsoft platforms and tools, providing a unique and competitive advantage in the channel. The Microsoft Partner Program was originally launched in October 2003; Pinnacle has maintained its Partner certification status since 2005.

As one of the requirements to participate in the Microsoft Partner Network, Pinnacle had to declare and qualify for at least one specialized Microsoft Competency. These Competencies are designed to help differentiate a partner’s capabilities in specific Microsoft technologies, and each has a unique set of requirements and benefits formulated to accurately represent specific skills and services that partners bring to the technology industry. This year Pinnacle achieved two unique Microsoft Competencies:

Gold Application Development – recognizing expertise as a Microsoft ISV, software development, and web development capabilities.

Silver Enterprise Resource Planning – recognizing expertise in deploying Microsoft Dynamics business management solutions, with specialization in Microsoft’s Dynamics GP™ platform.

For information on any Pinnacle product or service, e-mail sales-info@ec2-3-137-192-69.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com, call 1-800-366-1173, or visit the Pinnacle website at www.pinncorp.com. 

About Pinnacle

The Pinnacle Corporation is a leader in the automation technology industry focusing on the rapidly evolving convenience store and petroleum industries. Pinnacle delivers products that automate the broad spectrum of convenience store operations and supply chain management of fuel operations. Nationwide, Pinnacle’s products and services are used daily in thousands of convenience outlets to automate and improve their store operations and by fuel marketers to increase their efficiency in the complex management of fuel delivery.

Contact Information:

Heather Smith
The Pinnacle Corporation
1-800-366-1173, extension 205

Arlington, Texas – March 24, 2015 – The Pinnacle Corporation announces the release of automated scan data exports from its EPM™ Business Intelligence platform that qualify retailers for additional rebate incentives from Altria Group.

Beginning from the 2015 Q1 reporting period, and for the remainder of this year, Altria is providing additional incentives to retailers that are able to deliver advanced levels of sales transaction data.  Recognizing the value these incentives would provide to its clients, Pinnacle quickly responded by adding the new capability, enabling their customers to begin reaping the benefits of the program right away.  Pinnacle’s swift response further underscores its commitment to its clients, and delivers on their promise of getting their customers the most out of their data.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in our clients’ ability to use data as a competitive advantage.  It only makes sense that suppliers would like to take advantage of the information that our Business Intelligence platform delivers as well. We always enjoy engaging in projects with our clients that help them make better business decisions, and improve profitability.“ said Jane Sinn Gabriel, Product Manager at Pinnacle.

“Pinnacle really stepped up and got this project done for us in a very short timeframe. We are pleased that things have gone so smoothly, and are excited to start receiving the benefits of participating in the Altria program”, said Butch Egan, Chief Marketing Officer, Western Oil, Inc.

“I appreciate Pinnacle’s efforts to complete an automated Altria scan export for customers that do not employ a fully-staffed IT department”, said William Baine, CEO, Git’n Go Markets.

About The Pinnacle Corporation

The Pinnacle Corporation provides leading-edge automation technology to the rapidly evolving convenience store and petroleum industries. Pinnacle delivers products that automate the broad spectrum of convenience store operations and supply chain management of fuel operations.

Nationwide, Pinnacle’s products and services are used daily in thousands of convenience outlets to automate and improve their store operations, and by fuel marketers to increase their efficiency in the complex management of fuel delivery.

About Western Oil

Western Oil, Inc. is a family owned business serving the St. Louis community with quality Conoco Philips and Citgo products for over 30 years, with 51 store locations.

About Git’n Go

Git’ N Go Market is headquartered in Clinton, TN, and has rebuilt their stores to better serve their loyal Anderson County friends and customers. Their state of the art facilities provide drive-thrus and full delis to better serve their clientele.

Press Contact:
Christopher Li
Corporate Marketing Coordinator
The Pinnacle Corporation
1-800-366-1173, extension 254
corpmarketing@ec2-3-137-192-69.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com

ARLINGTON, Texas – March 5 , 2015 – The Pinnacle Corporation (Pinnacle) announced today that Double Quick, Inc. has implemented and begun the roll out of a new Handheld Lottery Inventory Solution, enhancing c-store operator efficiencies in the management of scratch lottery tickets.

The new Handheld Lottery Inventory Solution was developed by Pinnacle, and extends its existing Manager Workstation™ back office capabilities by providing a means to scan lottery ticket numbers into the daily paperwork.  By replacing the laborious task of manually transcribing and entering the ticket data into their report, c-store operators not only increase their efficiency, but practically eliminate any instances of human error in the data entry process.

“Double-Quick is extremely excited to adopt Pinnacle’s new handheld solution. We are confident it will save time by increasing efficiencies in the scratch lottery ticket reconciliation process, as well as with inventory and POS sales data. Because we already use Pinnacle’s handheld solution suite for services such as store-level inventory audits, vendor invoice receiving, and price verification, there was no additional hardware required, and the store managers were up and running very quickly. But most importantly, they were using the same hardware and software they’ve already become accustomed to, creating a fast, seamless transition for minimal disruption to our business operations.” said Howard Hyche, Director of Information Technology of Double-Quick, Inc.

“As an added capability of our extremely popular Handheld Solutions, the Handheld Lottery Inventory module is a natural extension of the lottery inventory and reconciliation processes that our back office and scanning products have supported for more than two decades.” said Melissa Fox Hadley, Director of Product Management at Pinnacle. “Instead of having to manually write down, then re-enter lottery ticket numbers as part of their daily paperwork, store managers are able to quickly and easily capture this data with the same handheld scanner they already use for other functions. It’s all about increasing efficiencies to continually reduce the time managers spend in front of the computer, and maximize their time with customers and overseeing staff.”

About Double Quick Inc.

Double Quick Inc. (www.doublequick.com) is based in Indianola, Mississippi and operates convenience stores and QSRs in Mississippi and Arkansas. It was founded in 1984 and continues to be family-owned and operated.  With 62 store locations, Double Quick is able to deliver on its mission statement, “Customer Service Starts With Me!”.

About Pinnacle

The Pinnacle Corporation provides leading-edge automation technology to the rapidly evolving convenience store and petroleum industries. Pinnacle delivers products that automate the broad spectrum of convenience store operations and supply chain management of fuel operations. Nationwide, Pinnacle’s products and services are used daily in thousands of convenience outlets to automate and improve their store operations and by fuel marketers to increase their efficiency in the complex management of fuel delivery.

Press Contact:
Adam Mitchell
Marketing Manager
The Pinnacle Corporation
1-817-795-5555 ext. 258
amitchell@ec2-3-137-192-69.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com

ARLINGTON, Texas, January 21, 2015 – The Pinnacle Corporation, the leading supplier of automation technology to the convenience retail and petroleum industries, announces payment acceptance support for mobile based Apple Pay™ and Google Wallet™ with Pinnacle Palm POS™.

“Apple Pay is important to Mr. Gas because we are constantly chasing our much larger competitors who are always innovating” said Nick Lynch, president of Lynch Oil who operates 6 Mr. Gas convenience stores based in Burley Idaho. “We feel that by offering Apple Pay we are giving our customers the most up to date technology for their purchases at our convenience stores.  Personally, I prefer this type of transaction because it is extremely fast, easy, and safe.  It also gives us the ‘cool’ factor with our younger generation of customers as this group is very important to our business.”

“Pinnacle’s support of mobile payment platforms is important because it helps us enhance our goal of making things as convenient and painless for the customer as possible. Mobile payments can speed up the transaction and put the customer in control,” said Chris Boebel, director of IT at Delta Sonic, a chain of 28 convenience stores and full service carwashes based in Buffalo, NY.

“There has been heated debate surrounding the viability of certain mobile payment solutions such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet since they don’t lower the cost per transaction model for retailers, but we do not feel it is our responsibility to make that unilateral decision for our clients”, said Drew Mize, Pinnacle’s Chief Operating Officer. “Our strategy remains to put the choice of payment acceptance options in the hands of our clients; this is just another step towards embracing that strategy with our Palm POS and payments platform.  We have no plans or intentions of aligning with any single form of payment that would intentionally exclude other payment methods that our clients may want to choose to accept with Palm; that would be counter to our objectives.”

Acceptance of Apple Pay or Google Wallet mobile payments with Pinnacle’s Palm POS requires three primary technology components; 1)  A consumer mobile device that supports the mobile payment method, 2)  a contactless enabled payment terminal, 3)  and a payment acquiring host network that supports these transaction types.  All of these elements must work together to successfully process an Apple Pay or Google Wallet payment transaction.

Pinnacle has successfully tested Apple Pay and Google Wallet mobile payments with Ingenico’s Telium payments terminals, currently deployed Pinnacle Palm POS versions, and several acquiring host networks including First Data, Heartland Payment Systems, National Bankcard Services, and WorldPay.

About Palm POS
Pinnacle’s award winning Palm POS™ is the fastest, most robust touch screen point of sale in the market. Designed and developed specifically for the convenience petroleum industry, Palm’s touch screen interface and modular flexibility will ensure your operations are smooth and consumers get the service they demand.

About Pinnacle
The Pinnacle Corporation provides leading edge automation technology to the rapidly evolving convenience store and petroleum industries. Pinnacle delivers products that automate the broad spectrum of convenience store operations and supply chain management of fuel operations. Nationwide, Pinnacle’s products and services are used daily in thousands of convenience outlets to automate and improve their store operations and by fuel marketers to increase their efficiency in the complex management of fuel delivery.

Contact Information
Corporate Marketing
The Pinnacle Corporation
1-800-366-1173 ext. 254

ARLINGTON, Texas; November 14, 2013 – The Pinnacle Corporation (Pinnacle) rolled up their sleeves earlier this month in partnership with the Trinity Habitat for Humanity chapter to frame a home for a deserving family. 30 Pinnacle employees volunteered over the course of two days to donate nearly 250 hours of service.

“The experience of working with Habitat for Humanity and building a home in our community is consistent with Pinnacle’s view of giving back to the various communities in which we live and work,” said Bob Johnson, president and CEO of Pinnacle. “Habitat certainly represents a cause that is worthy of support. Further, it was a great Pinnacle team building experience and offered our people a way to work with each other in a unique way and build a better company, as well as, a better community by creating a new home for one of our neighbors.”

It proved to be a very rewarding couple of days as Pinnacle employees labored together with the future homeowners themselves in constructing their home. Everyone left the building site knowing that they had made the difference in the lives of this family.

Habitat for Humanity International’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Anchored by the conviction that safe and affordable housing provides a critical foundation for breaking the cycle of poverty, Habitat has helped more than 3 million people construct, rehabilitate or preserve homes since 1976.

About Pinnacle
The Pinnacle Corporation provides leading edge automation technology to the rapidly evolving convenience store and petroleum industries. Pinnacle delivers products that automate the broad spectrum of convenience store operations and supply chain management of fuel operations. Nationwide, Pinnacle’s products and services are used daily in thousands of convenience outlets to automate and improve their store operations and by fuel marketers to increase their efficiency in the complex management of fuel delivery.

Contact Information:
Heather Smith
The Pinnacle Corporation
1-800-366-1173, extension 254

PriceAdvantage Announces Integration of its Fuel Pricing Software with Pinnacle Palm POS™ and Retail Back Office and Home Office Systems to Provide Insight into Fuel and In-Store Sales Correlation

–– Integration gives convenience store owners insight into what impact fuel sales has on in-store sales —

---

Colorado Springs, Colo. – October 8, 2014 – PriceAdvantage, a fuel price management software company and division of Skyline Products, is announcing new integrations with The Pinnacle Corporation, a leading-edge automation technology company for the convenience store and petroleum industries. PriceAdvantage will integrate its fuel pricing software with Pinnacle’s POS and Retail Back Office and Home Office Systems, enabling stores to correlate fuel pricing strategies with in-store sales. Analysts can then determine how fuel sales impact in-store sales and vice-versa, helping them set strategies to build overall store profitability.

At PriceAdvantage, we are focused on working closely with convenience stores and fuel retailers by providing state-of-the-art technology and flexible options to help them succeed with their fuel pricing strategies. Our new integration with Pinnacle overlays in-store sales for configurable product categories, such as special promotions or food, with fuel sales to help fuel analysts set the right fuel price and further maximize pricing strategies and profits across product categories,” said Chip Stadjuhar, President and CEO of Skyline Products.

The new integrations between PriceAdvantage and Pinnacle’s Systems, targeted for production release in Q4 2014, will include the exchange of three key elements. First, PriceAdvantage can send fuel price changes to the Palm POS for price change execution. Second, PriceAdvantage can retrieve periodic fuel volumes, as reported by the Pinnacle tank monitor web service. And third, PriceAdvantage will collect fuel and merchandise sales by store, as reported by the Pinnacle Manager Workstation. The information offers near real-time visibility into how well the fuel pricing strategies are working and allows fuel analysts to adjust pricing accordingly.

In the convenience store industry, competition, promotions and pricing can play a huge role in profitability.  With this integration, PriceAdvantage expands on its leading-edge technology to help stores maximize fuel pricing. Convenience stores that use integrated Pinnacle and PriceAdvantage software now have the tremendous advantage of being able to see the impact fuel strategies have on in-store sales, and how in-store promotions impact fuel sales. This powerful integration enables them to manage the big picture of overall store profits,” says Melissa Hadley, Director of Product Management at Pinnacle.

Pinnacle has provided automation solutions for the convenience store and petroleum marketing industries for more than two decades. Nationwide, its products and services are used daily in thousands of convenience outlets to automate and improve store operations, and by fuel marketers to increase efficiency in the complex management of fuel logistics.

PriceAdvantage combines the art and science of fuel pricing. First, it allows users to create business rules using their wisdom and insight regarding the special circumstances surrounding each store location – that’s the art. Next, it calculates and reviews prices using a scientific, economic algorithm – that’s the science. The result is the best of both worlds where fuel analysts arrive at successful pricing strategies and fuel pricing excellence.

About PriceAdvantage
A division of Skyline Products, Inc., PriceAdvantage believes that fuel pricing excellence is both an art and a science, balancing the importance of economic models with human knowledge of outside variables.  PriceAdvantage patented fuel pricing software helps dealer and company-owned convenience stores make the best, most informed fuel pricing decisions in less time by combining performance and competitive analysis with local area knowledge. PriceAdvantage offers the most complete end-to-end fuel price change execution software solution. The software automates the entire fuel pricing process from collecting competitive information, to performing sophisticated analysis for best price determination, to executing rapid speed-to-the-street price changes with price change confirmation feedback, all in a matter of minutes. Customers include: CST Brands, BJs, Rutter’s, Flyers Energy, Parker’s and more. PriceAdvantage is online at www.sellmoregas.com.

About Pinnacle
The Pinnacle Corporation provides leading edge automation technology to the rapidly evolving convenience store and petroleum industries. Pinnacle delivers products that automate the broad spectrum of convenience store operations and supply chain management of fuel operations. Nationwide, Pinnacle’s products and services are used daily in thousands of convenience outlets to automate and improve their store operations and by fuel marketers to increase their efficiency in the complex management of fuel delivery.

Skyline Products and PriceAdvantage are trademarks of Skyline Products, Inc. Other company and/or product names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Pinnacle Corporation, Sionic Mobile Partner to Launch Beacon Based Mobile Payments and Loyalty Rewards for Fuel Retailers 

— Combined point of sale, mobile commerce solution eliminates credit card fees on all fuel purchases while providing a more secure and convenient way for consumers to pay-at-the-pump with their smartphones —

Las Vegas, NV – October 8, 2014 – Sionic Mobile, with its channel leading ION mobile commerce platform, and The Pinnacle Corporation (Pinnacle), the leading supplier of automation technology to convenience retail and petroleum industries, today announced during the annual NACS Show the companies will integrate their solutions to to launch a robust mobile loyalty and payments platform for fuel retailers. The combined solution is among the first in the industry to leverage Bluetooth beacons inside the store and at pump islands to facilitate cloud-based payments and instant rewards for smartphone consumers.

The Pinnacle-ION solution helps convenience stores (c-stores) eliminate high-cost credit card fees on fuel purchases and encourages repeat business by providing customers instant rewards based on in-store checkout amounts. Using Bluetooth beacons for pump authorizations, customers can quickly and easily pay for fuel with a few taps on their phones. Leveraging fully encrypted and tokenized mobile payments, the process is more secure than traditional card swipe methods, protecting both the user and fuel retailer against fraudulent activity. The beacons are also used to deliver compelling, relevant promotions to customers boosting in-store traffic and driving high margin sales.

“Our priority is to deliver modern tools that automate the broad spectrum of c-store operations”, said Drew Mize, Pinnacle’s chief operating officer. “We continue to evolve our approach to ensure our services and products meet the current demands of fuel retailers and their consumers. We are pleased to partner with Sionic Mobile to integrate Pinnacle’s Palm POS™ platform with their next-generation loyalty program that combines mobile payments and instant rewards in one application, making it easy for operators to deliver an exceptional customer experience, while reducing costly transaction fees. We look forward to working the team at Sionic Mobile in delivering this proven, innovative tool to our c-store customer base.”

Consumers simply download the ION Rewards app (available in both the App Store and Google Play store), create an account and then use their smartphones to pay for fuel at the pump. Users receive an instant, ten cents per gallon savings on every fuel purchase at any ION-enabled fuel retailer. ION Rewards users also earn one to three percent in rewards on every in-store, non-fuel purchase.

“We are proud to partner with Pinnacle to help convenience stores better connect with nearby consumers, while reducing operating costs,” said Ronald Herman, CEO of Sionic Mobile. “We understand the increasing fees associated with credit and debit transactions, along with decreasing in-store sales are two of the biggest challenges facing c-store operators. ION is the only loyalty application that completely eliminates credit card fees on fuel purchases and rewards customers instantly based upon checkout amounts and payment types.”

About Sionic Mobile
Midtown Atlanta-based Sionic Mobile markets to smartphone consumers and rewards them for every mobile checkout. The mCommerce company utilizes mobile devices and the cloud to connect merchants with nearby, ready-to-spend consumers. The company is the maker and provider of ION — the first, fully digital mobile promotions, gift cards, payments and rewards apps for phones and tablets. Merchants use ION Loyalty® to increase traffic, sales & margins, reduce credit card fees and get good customers back more often. Consumers use ION Rewards® to earn IONs at every checkout, including sending gift cards or IONs to others, then spend them like cash on anything at any time at over 30,000 retail locations nationwide. The free apps support iOS and most Android devices.

About Pinnacle
The Pinnacle Corporation is a leader in the automation technology industry focusing on the rapidly evolving convenience store and petroleum industries. Pinnacle delivers products that automate the broad spectrum of convenience store operations and supply chain management of fuel operations. Nationwide, Pinnacle’s products and services are used daily in thousands of convenience outlets to automate and improve their store operations and by fuel marketers to increase their efficiency in the complex management of fuel delivery.

Automation technology solution provider further distinguishes itself by earning Gold status in the Microsoft Partner Network

ARLINGTON, Texas – September 29, 2014 – The Pinnacle Corporation (Pinnacle) the leading supplier of automation technology to the convenience retail and petroleum industries, announced that it has renewed its certification status in the Microsoft Partner Network, and earned the highest (Gold) level status available. This achievement demonstrates Pinnacle’s ability to meet and exceed Microsoft customers’ evolving needs in today’s dynamic business environment. To achieve this task Pinnacle completed a set of tests and qualifications to prove a sophisticated level of technology expertise, and marks Pinnacle’s 10th consecutive year in earning its way into the Microsoft’s Partner Network program.

“Earning our way into the Microsoft Partner Network each year requires a significant investment on our part, and demonstrates our commitment to evolving technologies and expertise in delivering solutions to our space,” said Drew Mize, Pinnacle’s Chief Operating Officer. “We earned a Gold level status this year, Microsoft’s highest level of achievement available, which affords us even more resources and support from Microsoft. These benefits enable us to provide an even higher level of value within our solutions and to our clients.”

Microsoft Partners receive a rich set of benefits, including access, training, and support for Microsoft platforms and tools, providing a unique and competitive advantage in the channel. The Microsoft Partner Program was originally launched in October 2003; Pinnacle has maintained its Partner certification status since 2005.

As one of the requirements to participate in the Microsoft Partner Network, Pinnacle had to declare and qualify for at least one specialized Microsoft Competency. These Competencies are designed to help differentiate a partner’s capabilities in specific Microsoft technologies, and each has a unique set of requirements and benefits formulated to accurately represent specific skills and services that partners bring to the technology industry. This year Pinnacle achieved two unique Microsoft Competencies:

Gold Application Development – recognizing expertise as a Microsoft ISV, software development, and web development capabilities.

Silver Enterprise Resource Planning – recognizing expertise in deploying Microsoft Dynamics business management solutions, with specialization in Microsoft’s Dynamics GP™ platform.

 

About Pinnacle
The Pinnacle Corporation is a leader in the automation technology industry focusing on the rapidly evolving convenience store and petroleum industries. Pinnacle delivers products that automate the broad spectrum of convenience store operations and supply chain management of fuel operations. Nationwide, Pinnacle’s products and services are used daily in thousands of convenience outlets to automate and improve their store operations and by fuel marketers to increase their efficiency in the complex management of fuel delivery.

Contact Information:

Heather Smith
The Pinnacle Corporation
1-800-366-1173, extension 205