More than six months after promising to support Apple Pay touchless payments at gas pumps, Chevron rolled out the service at a station across the street from its headquarters in San Ramon, Calif.
Chevron took to Twitter to announce NFC payment support -- including Apple Pay -- at dispensers installed at a gas station on San Ramon Valley Blvd., meaning nearby iPhone 6, 6 Plus and Apple Watch owners can pay at the pump without reaching for their wallet. More locations will follow suit, but Chevron did not offer a rollout timeline. The company's tweet did say, "Cupertino coming soon!" in reference to Apple's nearby campus.
Chevron first revealed plans to incorporate Apple Pay payment technology into gas pumps in December. At the time, Chevron said it was working directly with Apple on the project and hoped to bring the first Apple Pay-compatible dispensers online in early 2015.
According to Apple's list of Apple Pay retail partners, Chevron is the only gas and oil company to pledge support for the payments platform in the U.S. The company was one of the first Apple Pay adopters and rolled out support at point of sale terminals in its convenience stores and Texaco Extra Mile locations when the payments service launched last October.
For the UK, where Apple Pay just debuted on Tuesday, Apple lined up a launch partnership with petroleum giant BP, though it is not clear if customers can pay at the pump. Like the U.S., it seems that only one gas company will be offering initial support for Apple's contactless payment system in the region.