IFSF 2025 Annual Conference: Athens Hosts a Landmark Gathering on Fuel Retail’s Digital Future

Setting the Stage

Pre-conference communications had promised a packed agenda of thought-provoking sessions, networking opportunities, and distinguished speakers. The event delivered on all fronts, with members and non-members alike engaging in discussions that spanned artificial intelligence, payments, mobility, and the evolution of standards.

Networking highlights included a rooftop welcome reception at the Playroom and a private tour and dinner at the Hellenic Motor Museum, offering delegates both cultural immersion and informal opportunities to connect.

Keynote Themes and Presentations

AI in Retail Operations:
Dr. Richard Davis (Inference Group) demonstrated how AI agents and tools like Copilot can transform workflows, from policy drafting to predictive customer offers. His keynote stressed the importance of context and structured data, while showcasing rapid prototyping and automation use cases.

Retail Reinvented:
Stelios Panaretos (Motor Oil Group) highlighted disruptive innovations across Greece’s retail networks, including autonomous stores, smart lockers and loyalty-driven customer engagement. His vision of stations as dynamic hubs underscored the convergence of physical and digital experiences.

Value of Standards:
Paolo Magnoni (Shell Mobility) reinforced the role of IFSF standards in reducing costs, simplifying implementation, and enabling flexible integrations. His remarks pointed to the evolution from forecourt standardisation to broader interoperability across mobility services. Cristian Balulescu (Petrosol) explained how IFSF standards had enabled his company to deliver projects 3 to 4 times faster and were significantly more stable than the proprietary alternatives.

Payments and APIs:
Juha Sipila (CGI) presented lessons from the Closed LoopPayment API, stressing agility, open-source approaches, and integration with EV charging use cases.

Alessia Vita (Banca d’Italia) outlined the Digital Euro project, positioning it as a European-wide initiative to reduce fees, enhance privacy, and create a “digital banknote” for future payments.

Panels and Discussions

Bridging the Protocol Gap:
Mirko Spagnolatti (Fortech) moderated a panel on transitioning from legacy systems to IFSF APIs. Industry leaders debated the cost of change, considering the widescale adoption and high stability of existing systems and the need for education and success stories to drive adoption of the new APIs.

EV Charging Payments:
Ian Brown (IFSF EFT Lead) convened a panel with Mastercard, EMVCo, and ChargePoint to tackle fragmented EV payment systems. Discussions centred on plug-and-charge adoption, fleet management data, and fraud prevention, with consensus that interoperability is critical for scaling EV infrastructure.

LON Chipset Sunset:
Michel Hinfelaar (Haia Group) addressed the end-of-life of the Neuron chip, a cornerstone of IFSF LON systems. With ~50,000 European sites impacted, mitigating actions and potential long term solutions were explored, though certification challenges remain.

Workgroup Updates and Roadmap

• EFT: New use cases for incremental authorisation and two-factor authentication standards along with a new API Security standard.
• Forecourt: APIs for dispensers, tank gauges, and price poles, aligning with legacy functionality.
• Wet Stock Management: Real-time monitoring APIs leveraging cloud platforms.
• Strategy: Jon Thompson (IFSF Strategy Manager) unveiled the 2026–28 roadmap taking input from the horizon scans into multi-services at site and cloud platforms. He also announced the launch of the first set of OpenRetailing API simulator tools.

Sponsors and Industry Support

Platinum sponsors Printec and Petrosol reaffirmed their commitment to open standards and digital transformation. Mastercard sponsored the museum tour and dinner, highlighting its role in enabling seamless payment experiences across fuel and EV sectors. Unicode Systems enrolled as a Gold sponsor, showcasing its long-standing expertise in petrol station IT solutions.

Conclusion

The 2025 IFSF Annual Conference in Athens underscored the sector’s pivot toward interoperability, AI-driven innovation, and standardisation. With pressing challenges like EV charging payments fragmentation and chipset obsolescence, the event highlighted both the urgency and opportunity for collaboration.

As Jon Thompson noted in his presentation, the next three years for IFSF will be critical in delivering a roadmap that embraces cloud, mobile, and multi-service ecosystems—ensuring that the connected forecourt remains resilient, scalable, and customer-centric.