Oil and petroleum company Shell South Africa (Shell SA) decided to fit all its service stations with debit card payment terminals and restrict fuel payment methods to Maestro and Visa Electron debit cards. The decision comes as Shell witnesses an increase in petrol station robberies, prompted by the large amounts of cash usually held in such locations.

The new payment terminal rollout is set to be completed within two weeks and encompasses all of the company’s over 700 petrol stations. South African motorists showed interest in the idea, as a recent survey conducted by Shell indicated that almost half of them expressed their willingness to pay for fuel using debit cards, should the option be available. As a result, Shell SA is hoping to witness a sharp decrease in petrol station armed robberies and other crimes by keeping the amount of cash kept in petrol stations to a minimum at all time.