View source for Speedpass

{{Short description|Keychain radio-frequency identification}}
{{Infobox brand
| name           = Speedpass
| logo           = 
| logo_size      = 
| image          = Speedpass+ Key Tag.jpg
| image_size     = 150
| alt            = 
| caption        = 
| producttype    = [[Radio-frequency identification]]
| currentowner   = [[ExxonMobil]]
| producedby     = 
| country        = [[United States]]
| introduced     = {{start date and age|1997}}
| discontinued   = {{end date and age|2019}}; <small>name still continues as an [[Mobile app|application]] as Speedpass+ in Canada and as a functionality on the Exxon Mobil Rewards+ application in the United States</small>
| related        = 
| markets        = 
| previousowners = [[Mobil]] (1997–99)
| trademarkregistrations = 
| ambassadors    = 
| tagline        = 
| website        = {{url|https://www.esso.ca/en-ca/speedpass|esso.ca/speedpass}}
| module         = <!-- or: misc -->
| module1        = <!-- or: misc1 -->
| footnotes     =
}}
'''Speedpass''' was a [[keychain]] [[radio-frequency identification]] (RFID) device introduced in 1997 by [[Mobil]] (which merged with [[Exxon]] to become [[ExxonMobil]] in 1999) for [[electronic payment]]. It was originally developed by [[Verifone]].  By 2004, more than seven million people possessed Speedpass tags, which could be used at approximately 10,000 [[Exxon]], [[Mobil]] and [[Esso]] [[filling station|gas station]]s worldwide.

Speedpass was one of the first widely deployed consumer RFID payment systems of its kind, debuting nationwide in 1997 far ahead of [[VISA (credit card)|VISA]] and [[MasterCard]] RFID trials.

==History==
The ExxonMobil Speedpass was based on the [[Texas Instruments]] TIRIS RFID platform.  It was originally designed by [[Verifone]] in two configurations; one intended for installation inside the fuel dispensing "pump", and a convenience store model known as the Verifone RF250 (which was a redesign of the [[Ingenico]] iSC250 reader for [[smart cards]]).

[[File:Speedpass with Pieces of Eight.jpg|thumb|Speedpass with Spanish [[pieces of eight]]]]
The ExxonMobil Speedpass used a cryptographically-enabled tag with a [[Digital Signature Transponder]] (DST) which incorporated a weak, proprietary [[encryption]] scheme to perform a [[challenge–response]] protocol. On January 29, 2005, [[RSA Security]] and a group of students from [[Johns Hopkins University]] broke the proprietary encryption algorithm used by the Exxon-Mobil Speedpass. [https://www.rfidanalysis.org] They were able to successfully copy a Speedpass and use the copied RFID tag to purchase gas.

In an attempt to prevent fraud, Speedpass users ultimately were required to enter their [[zip code]] into scanners at some gas stations. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.speedpass.com/forms/frmDynPage.aspx?pPg=ZipVerification.htm&pgType=N|title=Speedpass|website=Speedpass.com|accessdate=2 October 2017|archive-date=28 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928184036/https://www.speedpass.com/forms/frmDynPage.aspx?pPg=ZipVerification.htm&pgType=N|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Convenience Stores and the "Flying Red Horse"==
At one point, Speedpass was deployed experimentally in [[fast-food restaurant]]s and [[supermarket]]s in select markets. [[McDonald's]] alone deployed Speedpass in over 400 restaurants in the [[Chicago metropolitan area|Greater Chicago]] area.

During the 1998 development of the RF250 convenience store reader, some prototype units were shipped from Verifone in [[Rocklin, California|Rocklin]], California, to a Verifone office in Florida. The units did not arrive on time and were thought to have been lost in transit. They were later found, and despite each unit having a Verifone logo and being encased in boxes showing the Verifone logo; the shipping company had nothing in their lost goods database showing that name.  Rather, the units turned up via a query for "flying red horse", apparently since the units displayed a small [[Mobil]] logo - and the Mobil logo was and is a red [[Pegasus]].  The internal codename for the project was thus changed to "Flying Red Horse" <ref>{{cite web|url=https://w6dtw.blogspot.com/2014/05/flying-red-horse.html|title=W6DTW : Flying Red Horse|date=7 May 2014|website=W6dtw.blogspot.com|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=October 2017}}

The test was deemed a failure and McDonald's removed the scanners from all their restaurants in mid-2004. Additionally, the New England grocery chain [[Stop & Shop]] tested Speedpass at their Boston area stores; the units were removed in early 2005.  Speedpass has also been previously available through a Speedpass Car Tag and a Speedpass-enabled [[Timex Group|Timex]] watch.

==Discontinuance and the switch to Speedpass+==
ExxonMobil announced that the RFID based key tag would be fully retired by June 30, 2019. ExxonMobil directed users to use the Speedpass+ [[Mobile app|app]] on their smartphone. The smartphone app uses the phone's location data to pay at the pump using the app. The app detects the users location which then prompts the user to input the pump number they are using. Conversely if location services are not activated for the app, the user can scan a QR code on the pump to activate pay at the pump functionality. In the United States, the app has since been renamed the Exxon Mobil Rewards+ app, although it still utilizes the Speedpass+ functionality. In Canada, it continued to use the Speedpass+ name for its app until 2023, when the app was renamed Esso and Mobil App.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Esso and Mobil™ App |url=https://www.esso.ca/en-ca/essoandmobilapp |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=www.esso.ca |language=en-ca}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Pay at the pump]]
* [[Loyalty program]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{official website}}
* [http://sp.gotoexxonmobil.com/locator.php ExxonMobil Speedpass Location Finder site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419034217/http://sp.gotoexxonmobil.com/locator.php |date=2012-04-19 }}
* [https://archive.today/20130118211015/http://www.businessweek.com/1997/10/b3517110.htm ''Business Week'', Mar. 10, 1997] (Retrieved May 30, 2007)

{{ExxonMobil}}
{{Customer loyalty programs}}

[[Category:Customer loyalty programs]]
[[Category:Radio-frequency identification]]
[[Category:ExxonMobil brands]]
[[Category:Payment systems]]