PayPal has developed a new service with Shell that will appeal to lazy motorists in the UK, with a launch planned for April followed by a nationwide launch later in 2015.

The new service enables drivers to pay for petrol via their smartphone without having to leave their vehicle and enter a service station’s shop.

Users must first set up their regular spend for petrol on either the Shell Motorist or PayPal apps. When they drive into the petrol station and park by a pump, they log into the app and select the individual pump by which they are situated.

By logging in, users are pre-authorising PayPal to pay for the amount of petrol they are about to fill up with. When the user is finished (they still have to physically fill the car with petrol for themselves, of course) then the transaction is considered complete and a receipt is automatically sent to them. The user can then drive off without having to face a potential queue in the shop.

Shell will be piloting the service with members of its Drivers’ Club in April, ahead of a countrywide launch later in the UK to a majority of Shell’s service stations.