TECH & INNOVATION: South African app shows which petrol stations to use
Loading player...
Rob Gardner – Founder of MyTank talks about A recently-launched online app in South Africa shows motorists which fuel stations they should use for the cheapest refills and best cash-back rewards from their banking and other fuel rewards programmes.
The tool — called MyTank — was developed by Capetonian Rob Gardner and is available on a browser at mytank.co.za or as an Android app.
Gardner describes himself as an entrepreneur interested in tech and product design.
MyTank is his first app and was initially just a loose idea, but he decided to run with it as he thought it could add a lot of value to the average user.
He initially created the app focusing on the diesel price because this could vary significantly from station to station within a small area.
By adding the rewards section, the app has also become relevant to petrol buyers that pay the same, regulated retail price for their fuel within the same areas, but might get wildly varying cash-back rewards depending on the stations they use.
“Some of the rewards programmes are notoriously hard to decode, so I wanted to provide a simple ‘apples-for-apples’ comparison and keep it super easy and intuitive with just enough info to allow users to make informed decisions,” Gardner explained.
“I worked out I was sometimes getting less back in rewards than what it cost in fuel driving to a specific fuel station.”
“The app does all the sums for you and just tells you where to go and what rewards programme to use if you have several.”
By default, the free website-based tool and app have a map that shows where the user can find fuel stations and allows users to see the price of filling up a 55-litre tank at each of these outlets.
That includes the cost of fuel for driving to the station from the user’s location.
To search for available stations, you must either agree to provide your location or enter it manually in a search bar.
The tool — called MyTank — was developed by Capetonian Rob Gardner and is available on a browser at mytank.co.za or as an Android app.
Gardner describes himself as an entrepreneur interested in tech and product design.
MyTank is his first app and was initially just a loose idea, but he decided to run with it as he thought it could add a lot of value to the average user.
He initially created the app focusing on the diesel price because this could vary significantly from station to station within a small area.
By adding the rewards section, the app has also become relevant to petrol buyers that pay the same, regulated retail price for their fuel within the same areas, but might get wildly varying cash-back rewards depending on the stations they use.
“Some of the rewards programmes are notoriously hard to decode, so I wanted to provide a simple ‘apples-for-apples’ comparison and keep it super easy and intuitive with just enough info to allow users to make informed decisions,” Gardner explained.
“I worked out I was sometimes getting less back in rewards than what it cost in fuel driving to a specific fuel station.”
“The app does all the sums for you and just tells you where to go and what rewards programme to use if you have several.”
By default, the free website-based tool and app have a map that shows where the user can find fuel stations and allows users to see the price of filling up a 55-litre tank at each of these outlets.
That includes the cost of fuel for driving to the station from the user’s location.
To search for available stations, you must either agree to provide your location or enter it manually in a search bar.
