Z Energy taps TNS for secure managed payment services

Z Energy is aiming to boost its customer experience and open the gates to innovation through deploying secure managed payment services.

The company is partnering with US-based Transaction Network Services (TNS) to enhance its customer experience through deploying TNS' Secure SD-WAN, which is in turn backed by Fortinet’s Secure SD-WAN solution.

The technology will allow more than 500 fuel sites across New Zealand to boost payments security and support new customer-centric digital offerings.

With the financial durability of traditional downstream fuel retailing in question, operators are looking to new products and services to add value for customers. The secure SD-WAN supports that through delivering fast, reliable connectivity.

Z Energy, which reported revenue a shade under $5 billion in its 2020 financial year, selected TNS following a competitive tender after the retailer’s previous network reached end of life.



TNS installed its system in a rolling implementation that concluded in November 2020 and saw all components functioned across the 500-plus sites.

“During the RFP process, TNS not only demonstrated the ability to solve our network challenges, but also showed a sharp understanding of the fuel industry and our own business,” said Z Energy's head of site systems, Andy Stewart.

“Our technology decisions are driven by four key pillars — speed, safety, integration and sustainable cost leadership — and TNS’ Secure SD-WAN will allow us to reduce costs and add convenient digital touchpoints while prioritising our customers’ health, safety and security.”

John Tait, the Sydney-based global managing director of TNS’ payments market business, said the SD-WAN managed service gives retailers a lower total cost of ownership while making management of their network less complex and more secure. It also delivers payment card industry data security standard (PCI-DSS) compliance security credentials.

“These features give Z Energy a payments infrastructure and network connectivity layer fit for the 21st-century customer experience, paving the way for future growth and business transformation," Tait said.