The International Forecourt Standards Forum is a UK-based European organisation which designs standards for connecting devices on a service station forecourt, such as dispensers, Tank Level Gauges, Price Signs, Car Washes and Outdoor Payment Terminals. In recent years additional standards have been added for Electronic Funds Transfer.

The International Forecourt Standards Forum (IFSF) is a forum of international petroleum retailers, suppliers and others with the common mission to promote interoperability by developing technical standards that enable cost-effective operations in retail petroleum and other sectors internationally

The IFSF’s approach is to work with established professional bodies such as CECOD, the pump/dispenser manufacturer’s trade association, and financial institutions, to achieve common standards and where possible adopt existing ones. The IFSF also depends on support from suppliers to the industry and other organisations to participate in and benefit from IFSF standards. To date IFSF has set many standards which have been adopted on thousands of forecourts in an ever increasing number of countries world wide. Over previous years, IFSF has developed standards covering all aspects and systems on a forecourt site

Formed in 1992 by a group of oil, pump and computer companies (including AGIP, BP, Petrofina, Mobil and Texaco), the principle of IFSF is to create standards so that devices from different manufacturers can interoperate without having to redevelop interfaces:[1]

... there was great concern within the retail oil industry regarding the different protocols or interfaces used by equipment manufacturers [...] Proprietary protocols effectively locked customers to individual suppliers – who could often not meet the changing computer system needs of the Oil Company.

The primary audience members are fuel retailers and suppliers of equipment, software or services for use on the forecourt and in the Convenience store (C-store) (and for their links to central systems) to the petroleum retail industry.  Other individuals can participate by registering as Technical Associate Members.  However, we also work closely with Affiliated Organisations, who have a shared technical interest with IFSF, and Partner Organisations from other industries or geographies.  Full details about the membership levels and benefits can be found on our website.

Standards are only available to paid members of the IFSF organisation.

Standards and Status

The IFSF has legal status, in the latter part of 2003 the IFSF changed from being a European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) to become a company limited by guarantee, constituted in England and Wales. It does not have shareholders but rather has Members who meet the qualifying criteria set out in the constitution of IFSF Ltd.

IFSF standards are applicable worldwide and they currently liaise with the relevant bodies in over 63 countries globally. There are no directly competing international standards with the same level of penetration. However, local national solutions have been adopted in some countries. Where possible existing standards are adopted. If these standards are either incomplete or non-existent, the IFSF will seek to ensure that standards are established. The IFSF prefers to work with established professional bodies and other interested organisations, i.e. financial institutions, equipment manufacturers, computer suppliers, etc, in order to achieve common standards. IFSF is also working with similar organisations from other parts of the world (e.g. Conexxus (formerly PCATS) from the USA) to harmonise the existing standards and to develop common new standards.

The Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the standards, all documentation on this website and all working papers submitted to or shared in IFSF working groups rests with IFSF Ltd. It is a condition of participation in IFSF and of attending any working group meeting that IFSF’s IPR is acknowledged. IFSF allows participants to have access to these materials according to the class or participation that they have applied for. Access to read the documentation is available to anyone who acknowledges IFSF’s IPR by joining as a Technical Associate. A fee is payable for membership. Click here to find out more. More information on IFSF’s access policy is available on the website.

Where a new requirement is identified that the existing standards cannot accommodate, IFSF will either enhance an existing standard or develop a new standard specifically for this requirement. As the participants in IFSF are all active in the business sectors concerned they identify the need for change and work together to implement viable solutions. Whenever possible IFSF will work with other standards bodies to develop common solutions to new business needs, aiming for a single global standard.

IFSF's standards extend beyond the forecourt. The most important of these relate to EFT and loyalty, in their various forms (including mobile-based transactions). The standards have also been applied in other business sectors where similar needs, such as the need to accept a wide range of cards – including those issued by or on behalf of the retailer – and handle product restrictions and/or loyalty, are required.

IFSF forecourt equipment has seen considerable success in Europe and some growth markets like Russia and Eastern Europe, but is relatively rare elsewhere. It has not seen much usage in North America,[2] although several member companies are based there. However, additional members have continued to join IFSF from many countries, in particular Shell who has pushed IFSF heavily in their European operations. Typically most major manufacturers offer an IFSF version of their equipment, though it may not be widely deployed. During 2007 IFSF was promoted heavily in China.[3]

The newer EFT standards, "POS-EPS" based on XML technologies, are being used more widely.[4][5]

Where IFSF is not used, a large variety of proprietary protocols are used. In many deployments, existing site equipment is converted to IFSF operation using a "protocol converter" or PCD, a small computer that accepts IFSF protocol and communicates to the device using its native, proprietary protocol. The PCD is most commonly fitted inside each dispenser, although it is possible for a single converter to convert many devices.

IFSF Work Groups

IFSF holds specialist Work Groups that focus on IFSF standards and APIs.  The Work Groups facilitate discussion and debate about current developments and work being undertaken and is an opportunity for members to share their views and provide valuable insight. There are currently six Work Groups, five of which are in partnership with Conexxus.

Joint API Work Group - This Work Group, organised jointly with Conexxus, focuses on discussing and developing APIs, their design and implementation guides, as well as the joint API Data Dictionary. More information on IFSF’s current activities is available here. Access to the Open Retailing GitLab is recommended. This Work Group meets on a monthly basis.

EFT & Payments Work Group - This Work Group, chaired by IFSF EFT project lead Ian S. Brown, focuses on discussing and developing all EFT and payment-related IFSF standards. As of 2020, all security matters are also covered in the EFT WG. This Work Group meets on a monthly basis.

Joint Loyalty API Work Group - This Work Group, organised jointly with Conexxus, focuses on the development of API-based loyalty standards. This group meets every two weeks .

Joint Mobile API Work Group - This Work Group, organised jointly with Conexxus, focuses on the development of mobile APIs. This group meets on a monthly basis.

Joint POS-EPS Work Group - This Work Group, organised jointly with Conexxus, focuses on the development of a new API-based version of the POS – EPS standard as a common global standard designed to replace the different XML based POS – EPS standards in use by IFSF and Conexxus. This group meets every two weeks.

Joint Forecourt Work Group - This Work Group, organised jointly with Conexxus, will focus on documenting the following work items:

• FDC and Dispenser API

• Tank Level Gauge API

• Price Pole API

• FDC/DSP, PricePool and ATG simulator

Joint Car Wash API Work Group - This Work Group, organised jointly with Conexxus, focuses on the development of a new API-based version of the Car Wash standard as a common global standard designed to replace the different XML based Car Wash standards in use by IFSF and Conexxus. On top of this new standard additional use cases will be added in a new version of this standard. This group meets every two weeks

How IFSF works

IFSF objectives are:

  • To enable and facilitate interconnectivity of equipment in any relevant environment
  • To harmonise solutions available to retailers and minimise their long-term cost of operation
  • To avoid unnecessary duplication of solutions and unnecessary costs
  • To work with other standards bodies to develop a single, globally applicable solution for each business need
  • To adapt and extend the standards as business needs continue to evolve

The IFSF standards define messages sent and received by each type of device. The messages are designed to be expandable by specifying individual fields with types and lengths. The messages are grouped into various "databases" for the logical parts of each device, such as a nozzle at a pump.

Each type of device (dispenser, tank level gauge, price sign, carwash, etc.) defines its own set of databases and fields. Most devices also define a state machine to control the operation of the device. For example, the Dispenser device has the following states:[6]

  • Inoperative (during startup)
  • Closed (not allowed to sell fuel, but otherwise working)
  • Idle (normal operating state)
    • Authorised (nozzle in, but authorised for the next delivery of fuel)
  • Calling (nozzle out, not yet authorised)
  • Started (nozzle out and authorised, but no fuel flowing yet)
    • Suspended started (paused, before fuel flow)
  • Fuelling (fuel flowing)
    • Suspended fuelling (paused, during fuel flow)

Membership & Benefits

BENEFITS FOR RETAILERS

With over 100,000 petrol filling stations across Europe alone, the cost of installing, maintaining and upgrading different types of equipment with different standards has proved a costly nightmare for the industry. By introducing common technology standards substantial amounts can be saved by implementing forecourt equipment, which although from different vendors is both inter-connectable and interchangeable.

The use of standards effectively allows Retailers to treat devices as commodities, and select those most appropriate for their needs, while also benefiting from simpler installation. It also allows each device to be changed or upgraded independently, so reducing the lifetime maintenance costs for the forecourt.

BENEFITS FOR SUPPLIERS

The IFSF standards have been established by leading experts and will save manufacturers time and costs on research and development. They allow development resource to concentrate on improving the product, rather than defining and re-building interfaces. In addition the IFSF compliance is becoming a strong selling tool.

To help implement its standards IFSF has retained the services of Calon Associates Limited, a specialist international consultancy, which provides technical support to manufacturers of forecourt equipment, and is maintaining and extending the standards and test tools already established by the IFSF.

MEMBERSHIP LEVELS

There are several options for your organisation to become a member of IFSF:

Full Membership is open to fuel retailers including both oil companies and major retail groups. Full members have the right to appoint a Director to the IFSF board to help to shape the future technical direction of the fuel retailing industry. The annual membership fee is £12,000.

Technical Associate Membership is normally suppliers to the oil industry. Technical Associates often want to work closely with the IFSF working parties, developing, documenting and modifying the standards or incorporating agreed standards into their products or services. The annual membership fee ranges from £500 to £4,000 dependent on size of organisation and the level of involvement that the TA wishes to enjoy in IFSF activities.

Associate Member Membership is open to any Fuel Retailer who is the Brand Owner and not a current Full Member. The annual membership fee is £5,000

Partner Organisation Membership will suit organisations from related industries who are closely involved in using and working to develop the IFSF family of standards, helping these to gain a wider acceptance. The annual membership fee is £2,500.

Event Contact Membership is appropriate for those individuals, organisations or companies who are interested in joining the IFSF mailing list to receive our newsletters and information on IFSF events. This level of membership is free.

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-08-24. Retrieved 2008-07-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) IFSF Management Intro, sec 1.1 Background history
  2. ↑ http://www.pcats.org/website/navdispatch.asp?id=752%5B%5D PCATS press release
  3. ↑ "IFSF China". Archived from the original on 2013-01-26. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
  4. ↑ http://www.csdecisions.com/issue/article/42265/pcats_and_bp_pursue_processing_standards.aspx%5B%5D
  5. ↑ "ACK Terminal Server - ACK Intelligent Credit Card Software Solutions". Archived from the original on 2007-12-24. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2012-10-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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