GS Caltex Wins iF Design Award, Sweeps All Four of the World’s Top Design Awards

Energy Plus app UX innovation recognized
World's first to win all four major design awards

GS Caltex has swept all four of the world's top design awards, led by its Energy Plus app.

GS Caltex becomes the first oil refiner to win nine awards at the Global Design Awards. Photo by GS Caltex

GS Caltex announced on the 25th that it won the main award in the Service, System & Processes Design category at the iF Design Award 2026, in recognition of the innovative user experience (UX) of its Energy Plus app.

With this award, GS Caltex has become the first oil refiner in the world to capture all four of the world's top design awards, after winning in two categories at the Red Dot Design Award in August 2025, the IDEA Design Award in September, the Good Design Award in October, and now the iF Design Award.

The iF Design Award is a global design award organized by Germany's International Forum since 1954. It selects winners by comprehensively evaluating differentiation, impact, and other criteria across nine categories, including Product, Packaging, Branding & Communication, Concept, Service, User Experience (UX), and User Interface (UI).

In addition, GS Caltex received awards at the Spark Design Awards and the London Design Awards last year, achieving a total of nine wins across eight global design awards. The company explained that this demonstrates how its design capabilities and future-oriented innovation efforts have been recognized in the global market.

Since its launch in 2021, the Energy Plus app has continuously enhanced its features with a focus on improving fueling convenience. Its flagship function, "Baro Refuel," allows customers to pre-register fuel type, fueling amount, and payment methods so that discounts, reward accumulation, and payment can all be completed at once at the gas station simply by scanning a barcode or entering a PIN.

Reflecting customer feedback, the company has also continuously improved app speed, expanded linkage with payment methods, simplified coupon registration procedures, and enhanced updates to gas station pump prices. It was the first oil refiner in Korea to enable gas station search, Baro Refuel, and coupon and points inquiry through CarPlay and Android Auto, and it also introduced the Shake & Pay feature, which launches Baro Refuel when the user shakes their smartphone. By renewing the home screen widget, GS Caltex has also improved accessibility so that key functions can be used without launching the app.

Thanks to these efforts, GS Caltex was ranked No. 1 in the gas station category for the 17th consecutive year in the National Customer Satisfaction Index survey in July 2025.

Changsoo Kim, Executive Vice President of the Mobility & Marketing Division at GS Caltex, said, "This award is a global recognition of our efforts to reduce the inconveniences customers experience at fueling sites," adding, "We will continue to lead differentiated customer experiences by combining data and design."