The fuel retailing landscape has undergone significant transformations in recent years, with stations becoming more than just places to refuel vehicles. Modernized stations with connected forecourt leverage advanced technologies to streamline operations and offer personalized services to customers. 

On September 11-12 we attended ReFuelForum Africa in Johannesburg, together with our local partners of DFS and TSG. Tom, our Senior Business Development Manager, joined the exciting speaker line-up. A short recap.

In today's data-driven world, industries across the board are harnessing the power of data to drive innovation, streamline operations, and enhance customer experiences. The fuel retailing industry is no exception. With the advent of advanced technologies and increased connectivity, fuel retailers are leveraging data to gain valuable insights, optimize operations, and create personalized experiences for their customers.

On August 29-30 ICASA joined the intercharge network conference 2023, the eMobility event for the EV charging industry in Berlin. The theme for this year was ‘Paths to Profitability: Next Generation Business Models.

The fuel retailing landscape has undergone significant transformations in recent years, with stations becoming more than just places to refuel vehicles. In this era of convenience and fast-paced lifestyles, the integration of Quick Service Restaurants (often abbreviated as QSRs) within fuel retailing establishments has emerged as a mutually beneficial trend.

After the pandemic accelerated new consumer habits worldwide, an increasing number of service stations and convenience stores have entered the last mile delivery space. By offering items for delivery or pickup, retailers are leveraging their convenient locations and expanding services. What role do stations play in delivery platforms and how is this integration shaping today’s business?

Are your stations ready for the future? Starting from July 2023 every public charging point in Germany has to offer EV drivers the possibility to charge and pay using debit and credit cards.

With the international growth of ICASA, we find it important to contribute to the international community as well as to local initiatives. A few years ago ICASA has chosen to partner up with the non-profit organization Aketi, who focuses entirely on humanitarian and social projects related to the fundamental necessities, health of the population, and education and training in Aketi (located in the north of Congo, 450 km from Kisangani).

Whether it’s called CSR (corporate social responsibility) or ESG (environmental, social and governance), reporting on corporate commitments in these areas has become increasingly important the past few years. The major oil companies have faced growing pressures on their ESG commitments. Every company, big or small, has an impact on and a responsibility to our society. 

Dover Fueling Solutions (DFS), a part of Dover Corporation and a leading global provider of advanced customer-focused technologies, services and solutions in the fuel and convenience retail industry, is proud to announce its partnership with ICASA and Technical Services Group (TSG), to offer DX Power™, DFS’ seamless EV payment solution, in Europe. 

Campus Diepenbeek, where ICASA HQ is located, is in full growth! There are sky-high ambitions to prepare the campus over the next 8 years to become a campus of the future where education, research and entrepreneurship will optimally interact. As one of the first companies on campus, ICASA is located at the epicenter of innovation and development.

On February 14th the EU launched a proposal for stronger CO² standards for heavy-duty vehicles to help reach the EU's commitment to reach climate neutrality by 2050.

We keep on developing and finetuning our ICASA Suite in order to be able to meet your needs and to offer you a solution as broad as possible. For the past few months, we have been working hard on new functionalities and UX/UI improvements of the ICASA Suite. All this to increase the user-friendliness and the efficiency of the system.

To support your growth and to make your stations future-proof ICASA offers you a complete, secure and fully integrated solution for the online (real-time) capturing, authorization, management and processing of transactions and fleet cards.

In 2021, the EU proposed the conversion of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive into regulation to establish a common framework for supporting the roll-out of publicly accessible alternative fuel infrastructure in the EU. This includes the creation of a network of charging and refueling stations for seamless travel across the EU, as well as easy-to-use payment methods.

Frank Dendas will join the ICASA Team as Global Sales & Marketing Director. From the Belgian headquarters and our different foreign branch offices, we gladly serve our global customer base and focus on providing our software suite worldwide.

Many fuel retailers are still hesitant to invest in EV charging infrastructure due to the high upfront costs. However, with the increasing demand for electric vehicles and legislation, it is important for fuel retailers to invest in EV charging infrastructure to ensure their stations are future-proof.

The 2022 NACS Show delivered four days of learnings, insights, networking, and exploring what’s new and exciting for the convenience and fuel retailing industry. 

Our ICASA team-building weekend in Palermo was a resounding success. The relaxed atmosphere and picturesque setting, coupled with the Sicilian sun, made for an unforgettable experience among colleagues!

In previous articles we’ve already discussed some challenges and risks that the energy transition and the shift towards EV entail. Below we summarize once again what you as a fuel retailer should take into account when looking at the implementation of EV charging or when already implementing it.

In the last decade, cybersecurity has become a prevalent problem in the fuel retail industry, with complex challenges arising regarding the confidentiality and integrity of data (such as PIN). The impact on the oil company may be significant when dealing with cybersecurity issue, ranging from financial to reputational impact. The evolution of EV infrastructure and technology to online processing will not be any different. 

Today there is a lack of control related to the management of EV charging sessions, which is a major problem in the market and involves a lot of credit risk for oil companies and service stations. In order to make EV charging a profitable business, new business models and control mechanisms need to be built in.

Upcoming months you can find us at several international trade fairs and events. We are looking forward representing ICASA, and talking about trends and challenges in the energy retail segment. The energy transition, changing customer behavior & expectations, and technological changes are just a few of the challenges fuel retailers encounter today.

IFSF is a community dedicated to enabling technology standards for the benefit of retailers of automotive fuel and energy. ICASA has recently joined the API Work Group which is an excellent opportunity for us to assist in the development of standards for our industry.

The EU Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive was adopted to establish a common framework of measures to support the roll-out of publicly accessible alternative fuels infrastructure in the EU. In 2021 the EU launched a proposal to convert the directive - which is not binding on the member states - into a regulation that does entail obligations. 

The key objective of ICASA’s business is helping retailers make and keep their service stations future proof. Fuel retailers have had many challenges throughout the years but these have never been bigger than today: the energy transition, changing customer behavior & expectations, technological changes, ...

After a much delayed break, Europe’s biggest trade fair for the fuel retail and carwash industries came back in full force! And we were eager to meet, discuss and network in person again.

We are counting down! After missing out on the 2020 edition due to Covid restrictions, UNITI Expo will be back from 17 to 19 May 2022! ICASA will once again be part of the leading European event for retail petroleum and carwash industries.

Accenture’s Rushad Chinoy discusses how in a fast-changing environment, fuel retailers need new approaches. As everyone in the fuel retailing industry is aware, big changes are taking place at very high speed. In fact, the whole concept of mobility is being transformed.

To be ready for future challenges LUKOIL will make use of the ICASA Suite for managing their stations and shops via one single cloud platform. To offer LUKOIL a full retail automation solution ICASA joined forces with TSG, while Dover Fueling Solutions supplied all devices.

The energy retail market is on the move. Disruption and digital transformation will redefine the future of fuel retailing. With the ICASA Suite we stay closely on track of these developments. As the market and the needs of our customers evolve, ICASA is constantly adjusting and enhancing its ICASA Suite.

By this point, we’re all well aware that the pandemic certainly caused significant disruption in fuel needs and customer behaviour, as most people drove less often and wanted to engage in person less frequently. And that upheaval hasn’t yet abated as fuel retailers are eyeing the next big disruptions: the surge in electric vehicles and the increase in contactless transactions.

From 15 till 18 November we were present at ADIPEC - the world’s most influential meeting place for oil, gas and energy companies and professionals - which took place in Abu Dhabi.

On 12-13 October, ICASA was present at forecourttech ’21 in Alicante, the event that brings together an audience of major & independent mobility hub operators with providers of technologies to the forecourt & C-Store.

On 12-13 October, ICASA will be present at forecourttech ’21 in Alicante, the event that brings together an audience of major & independent mobility hub operators with providers of technologies to the forecourt & C-Store, producing an environment that allows for effective networking.

To grow its service stations, our customer Prova Oil has invested in HVO 100 vegetable oil. ‘HVO stands for Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil’, service station owner Dirk Prové explains.

In order to limit climate change we need to reduce our carbon footprint/CO2 emissions and decarbonize the energy sector on a global and universal scale. Despite the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19, we see oil and gas companies continue to make progress toward a lower-carbon future.

No doubt you have heard about ‘working in the cloud’, ‘cloud computing’ and ‘cloud solutions’. But do you also know the various options, the advantages and risks of cloud computing? And what added value it offers to your company? We give you a short overview.

Datacenter United - the data center ICASA partners with - obtains the prestigious Tier IV certificate from the Uptime Institute. The USA-based consultancy and audit company Uptime Institute has set up an internationally acclaimed classification system that indicates the degree of guaranteed redundancy of a data center. The service levels range from Tier I to the ultimate Tier IV.

While we look ahead towards a more normal second half of the year and we’ll be able to travel again, we are spreading our wings. In the coming months you’ll find us at several international trade fairs and events where we are looking forward to talking again face to face.

ICASA is extremely proud to join forces with Dover Fueling Solutions (DFS) to complete the installation of their site automation solutions with the provision and roll out of the back office and head office of the ICASA Energy Suite across the more than 190 Shell retail sites in Hungary. Local partner in this project is Laurel.

LUKOIL BELUX chooses ICASA as a partner to make their 185 stations in Belgium and Luxembourg future proof. ‘To be ready for future challenges we make use of the ICASA Suite to manage all of our stations and shops’, Ivo Hoskens - Retail Director & Deputy Managing Director Lukoil Benelux - explains.

The C4T Group has established a new entity, C4T Gaz, a joint venture between C4T and the HAM Group of Spain, which allows them to offer LNG and CNG at their truck stop in Calais.

To make the home and truck deliveries run smoothly, our customer Petro-Center has chosen to integrate the delivery tool Grizzli in the Petro-Center headquarters and trucks.

The (energy) world is changing at a rapid pace, and as a technology partner for the energy sector we are following these changes closely, and of course we are evolving along with them.

The non-profit organization Aketi, who focuses entirely on humanitarian and social projects in Aketi (Africa), starts building a new school to give the youngest children the opportunity to go to school and to get the education they are entitled to.

In November we joined the IFSF (International Forecourt Standards Forum) Annual Conference and explored this year’s theme of ‘Enhancing Consumer Experience’.

Due to our strong international growth and challenging new projects, we are still looking for motivated and skilled people to join our ambitious ICASA team. Want to be part of our journey? More than ever, it's important to be a game changer. Facing the current challenges and translating them into solutions to help our customers, that's in our DNA.

Our customer Rontec is one of the finalists of the Forecourt Trader Awards 2020, the most prestigious and respected awards in the UK’s petrol retailing calendar.

2020 is on its last legs and the holidays are just around the corner. We try to offer you the best possible service – also during the holidays – and permanency is guaranteed.

Do you want to increase the operational efficiency of your company while significantly reducing costs? With the 'Asset & Compliance Management' functionality within the ICASA Suite, we offer the possibility to manage all your assets in an efficient and systematic way, in order to get the maximum value from your assets.

COVID-19 is a global crisis that is continuing to evolve. The timeline and full implications of this crisis are not yet known. What is known is that short-term solutions would be able to last for longer than expected, and long-term consumer behaviors will forever be changed when we reach the end.

This year forecourttech takes to a Virtual platform, featuring presentations on current day and evolving technologies and a pre-scheduled meetings program that will create a safe and convenient platform for forecourt operators and technology providers to come together.

With the international growth of ICASA, we find it important to contribute to the international community as well as to local initiatives. In our March edition we already talked about our partnership with the non-profit organization Aketi, who focuses entirely on humanitarian and social projects related to the fundamental necessities such as health, education and training of the population in Aketi.

Dutch LNG market leader Rolande partnered with our customer G&V Energy Group to open their first LNG station in Belgium, at the Antwerp harbour.

The energy sector is ever-evolving. With the ICASA Suite we stay closely on track of these developments. As the market and the customer demands evolve, we are constantly adjusting and enhancing our powerful back- and head-office solution to be able to provide you a total solution for your downstream activities.

The last months have been entirely devoted to the fight against COVID-19. In this challenging period, one thing was certain: we would continue to serve our customers as you would expect from us. We do our utmost to ensure a smooth service, however without losing the guidelines of government out of sight and while placing the safety of our employees, customers, suppliers and partners first.

As we face historic challenges worldwide with the COVID-19 pandemic and as the health and safety of everyone is priority number one, a lot of events have been cancelled or postponed.

As a rapidly growing ambitious organization UNIMOT is developing a network of petrol stations in Poland under the AVIA brand. To support their growth and to make their stations future proof, UNIMOT chooses ICASA.

The last month has been entirely devoted to the fight against the corona virus (COVID-19). As a company, we also take our responsibility to guarantee the safety of our employees, customers, suppliers and partners.

With the international growth of ICASA, we find it important to contribute to the international community as well as to local initiatives (such as non-profit organization Stijn). ICASA has recently chosen to partner up with the non-profit organization Aketi.

From our headquarters in Belgium and our different branch offices, ICASA fully focuses on globally providing its software suite. As ICASA continues to grow geographically and proceeds to develop and improve services and solutions, we are constantly looking for ambitious people with qualified technical skills.

The Belgian government and the World Health Organization have taken a number of measures to stop the spreading of the corona virus (COVID-19). Depending on the evolution of the virus and the Belgian situation these measures may have to be adjusted on a permanent basis.

Undoubtedly, you have heard of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). But what does it actually mean? We gladly explain it all to you.

The ICT sector is ever-evolving. With the ICASA Energy Software Suite we stay closely on track of these developments. As the market and the customer needs evolve, ICASA is constantly adjusting and enhancing its ICASA Energy Suite. 

Upgrades, a word you undoubtedly heard of numerous times. After a couple of years, computers automatically start to slow down. They will begin to work slower and slower. An upgrade is needed to be able to meet the high demands of software packages.

AVIA Weghorst chooses ICASA as a partner to make their 130 manned and unmanned stations in the Northeast and Central Netherlands future proof. Tomorrow’s Energy Management, Today with ICASA.

The ICASA Authorization offers a complete, secure and fully integrated end-to-end solution for the handling and authorization of transactions. It covers the online (real time) capturing, authorization, management and processing of transactions and cards.

You’ve probably already heard of ‘trading’ – but what does it really mean? Please let us set the facts straight.

In the coming months we are certainly not standing still and you can find us at several international trade fairs and events we are looking forward to representing ICASA. An overview where you can spot us in the coming months.

You are probably familiar with the terms ‘BOS & HOS’, in full Blackoffice System and Headoffice System. Before the cloud was invented, local software (BOS) was installed in every fuel station to manage the station. The data were sent to the Headoffice System (HOS) where everything was centralized.

Rontec Roadside Retail, one of the leading players in the UK forecourt industry and operating over 240 forecourts across England and Wales, has awarded a five-year contract to ICASA to manage the back and head office for its stations with their ICASA Energy Software Suite.

At the start of the year, our colleague Herman Briké became one of the ambassadors for Climbing for Life 2019. Saturday 15th of June was D-day for him and Herman climbed the mythical Stelvio together with his fellow ambassadors.

We keep on developing and finetuning our ICASA Suite in order to be able to meet your needs and to offer you a solution as broad as possible. We would like to offer you this short overview of our most recent developments.

The (energy) world is changing at a rapid pace, and as a technology partner for the energy sector we are following these changes closely, and of course we are evolving along with them. Moreover, we want to be a pioneer, a pioneer in offering innovative solutions for the management of all downstream/energy activities.

You will find us at a number of international trade fairs in the upcoming months. We are looking forward to representing ICASA.

Fuel supplier Gabriëls from Aalst and the West-Flemish energy group Power Oil, both customers of ICASA, combine their forces from now on. We had a conversation with Ignace Gabriëls who will make sure the fusion between the two companies will run smoothly.

Our colleague Herman Briké took on the ambassadorship of Climbing for Life 2019 at the start of this year. Climbing for Life wants to draw attention to diabetes and wants to stimulate people towards more healthy movement. In the upcoming months, a team of diabetes patients is prepared under medical supervision to climb the Passo Dello Stelvio by bike in June.

The past few months, we have been working really hard behind the screens on the expansion of the existing functionalities and on a new look & feel of XPetro. All this to increase the user-friendliness and the efficiency of the system.

Looking for a total solution for the handling and authorization of your transactions? With the XPetro Authorization platform, ICASA offers you an end-to-end solution.

On the 21st and 22nd of November ICASA joined the 5th edition of the “Tankstation Vakbeurs”. Also in 2019, we have some new interesting events on the agenda.

2018 is on its last legs and the holidays are just around the corner.

Gm Fuel Service is a Spanish oil operator whose area of influence is mainly the north and the Mediterranean area through its Bilbao and Barcelona bases. A new base in the Outer Harbor of Huelva and the new offices in Sevilla mark the beginning of the expansion in the south of the peninsula.

Do you already invoice to Flemish and local governments or would you like to consider them as one of your customers in the future? Take a step ahead on your colleagues and start already now with digital invoicing.

Uniform labels for new vehicles and service stations are obligatory as from October 12 2018. This to ensure that customers find the right fuel for their vehicle.

As we communicated before, new types of diesel fuel are allowed on the Belgian market as from July 23rd 2018. The RD of July 8 2018 (concerning the naming and the characteristics of the gas oil-diesel and of the fuels) changes the RD of September 19 2013. That degree only allowed diesel on the Belgian market that answered to the European norm EN 590.

The 'Fuel Station Trade Fair' takes place at Expo Houten (The Netherlands) on November 21 and 22. ICASA will once again be present at this event! We’d like to welcome you on our stand.

Fossil fuels set a lot of tongues wagging. The use of diesel and heating oil is strongly discouraged from political corners. But the measures that are taken are not in line with the technology-neutral approach on which the sector is urging.

Established in 1994, Premier Marinas Ltd owns and operates several of the UK’s most prestigious marinas all based on the South Coast (Eastbourne Marina, Brighton Marina, Chichester Marina, Southsea, Port Solent, Gosport, Swanwick, Noss-on Dart, Falmouth Marina).

The world is changing at a rapid pace, just like the existing forms of energy. As a technological partner for the energy sector we follow these changes closely and we evolve.

As a consequence of a European Union directive on payment services - Payment Services Directive (PSD 2) aka Directive (EU) 2015/2366 - in the future it will only be allowed to use fuel cards for goods and services related to mobility.

The Council of Ministers recently approved a preliminary draft law providing for a new reimbursement procedure for professional diesel fuel in the context of the partial exemption from the special excise duty for certain categories of professional transport operators (+ 3.5 tonnes).

For the 2nd time in a row, ICASA was present at UNITI Expo, the largest international trade fair for the retail petroleum and car wash industry. With 467 exhibitors from 37 countries and 17,000 visitors from 120 countries, it was a very successful edition.

As usual, we organize also this fall the XPetro users forum. It goes without saying that we adapt our software as efficiently as possible to your specific needs. To make this possible, we keep our ears to the ground and we want to hear from you as a user.

The C4T Group, headquartered in Madrid, acquired its first truck stop in France in April 2016, just outside of Calais in the Transmarck Industrial Zone.

We are counting down! The UNITI Expo – the biggest trade fair for retail petroleum and carwash industry – will take place from 15 to 17 May 2018. It is already the third edition of the trade fair.

As we already announced in our ICASA News of March 2017, the new privacy legislation (the so-called General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR in short) is effective as from May 2018. The new law includes a number of new obligations and liabilities for companies that process personal details of Europeans.