A new app from Korean oil refiner GS Caltex will allow charging and payment services at its gas stations without coming into contact with staff, to ensure safety amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

According to GS Caltex with some 330 gas stations here, its non-face-to-face refueling and payment app OWiN saw a 1,000 percent surge in monthly use in March compared to December last year. The number of app users spiked more than 500 percent in the same period.

“With OWiN app, customers can select which GS Caltex gas station they would like to visit and choose the fuel type and amount in advance. Customers don’t even have to lower their car windows as employees can conduct charging services with the information they have already given,” a GS Caltex official said. “Also, customers can receive a 20 won ($0.02) discount per liter for using the app.”

GS Caltex has been offering 3,000 won gas coupons to up to 50,000 new OWiN users from April 27 to May 31. The refining unit will also pick 300 existing users and give them gifts including smartphones and GS Caltex gas coupons.

GS Caltex has been swift in adjusting to market trends as the company is building a Total Energy Station in Gangdong-gu, eastern Seoul, to refill all types of vehicles, be they gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas, hydrogen or electric. The Total Energy Station is expected to be completed in the first half of this year.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)