Circle K was founded in 1951 in El Paso, TX and is the largest independent convenience-store operator in the United States. In December 2015, Circle K piloted an Ingress partnership in the greater Phoenix, AZ metro area with 418 locations becoming in-game portals. As of today, Circle K has now activated all of their 4,700 US stores in the U.S. to become in-game portals. It is rumored that further expansion will occur in Canada and other countries around the world. Players can not only visit Circle K location in-game but will be able to receive Ingress passcodes within the Circle K app after making qualified purchases. The passcodes can be redeemed within the Ingress Scanner or the Intel Map for game items.