Haven't heard anything like that here.....yet! We always use our debit card.Don't know if that is different than a regular credit card.

Many of the stations here have two prices....cash/credit.
Cash is quite a savings.

Yep! I read it in the paper this morning. The article I read said they are losing money on credit cards. Debit cards are different I think.

I was going to post a link to the article, but you have to join to read so I copied and pasted:

Plastic turned away at pumps
Associated Press
Published Thursday, June 19, 2008

Charleston, W.Va.

When gas station manager Roger Randolph realized it was costing him money each time someone filled up with $4-a-gallon gas, he hung a sign on his pumps: "No more credit cards."

He may be the first in West Virginia to ban plastic, but gas station operators nationwide are reporting similar woes as higher prices translate into higher credit card fees the managers must pay, squeezing profits at the pump.

"The more they buy, the more we lose," said Randolph, who manages Mr. Eds Chevron in St. Albans. "Gas prices go up, and our profits go down."

His complaints target the so-called interchange fee  a percentage of the sale price paid to credit card companies on every transaction. The percentage is fixed  usually at just under 2 percent  but the dollar amount of the fee rises with the price of the goods or services.

As gas tops $4 a gallon, that pushes fees toward 10 cents a gallon. Now stations, which typically mark up gasoline by 11 to 12 cents a gallon, are seeing profits shrink or even reverse.

In a good month, RandolphÂs small operation would yield a $60 profit on gasoline sales. But thatÂs been buried as soaring prices forced the station to pay about $500 a month in interchange fees.

"At these prices, people arenÂt making any money," said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the Alexandria, Va.-based National
Association of Convenience Stores.

"ItÂs brutal."

LenardÂs group reports that convenience stores paid roughly $7.6 billion in credit card fees last year, while making $3.4 billion in profits.

The way interchange fees are structured has long annoyed retailers, prompting calls for relief.

Legislation pending in the U.S. House and Senate would allow merchants to bargain collectively with major credit and debit card companies.

The National Retail Federation says gas prices point to the unfairness of the system: Gas stations are paying more in interchange fees because the price of gas has gone up, while the cost of processing credit or debit cards remains the same.

"We have always contended that it doesnÂt cost Visa and MasterCard any more to process a $1,000 transaction than it does a $100 transaction," said J. Craig Shearman, vice president of government affairs at the retail federation.

The credit card companies say fees are just part of the cost of doing business.

MasterCard has capped interchange fees for gas purchases of $50 or more, said company spokeswoman Sharon Gamsin.

Accepting MasterCard also gives gas stations "increased sales, greater security and convenience, lower labor costs, and speed for their customers at the pump," Gamsin said in an e-mail.

Visa argues that the fees are offset "by the tangible benefits to stations and their customers, such as the ability to pay at the pump," the company said in a statement to the AP.

Absent congressional action, gas stations are seeking other relief, including discounts to customers who pay in cash.

Shipley Energy, which owns 23 TomÂs Convenience stores in Pennsylvania, has partnered with a new credit card company, Revolution, which charges smaller interchange fees.

Bob Astor, wholesale fuels business manager for Shipley, said those savings get passed on to customers as cheaper prices at the pump. Customers who pay with the card get an automatic 10-cent discount.

Gas stations in South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey and Arizona are among those offering cash customers a discount, with savings from four cents to 10 cents per gallon.

The Connecticut General Assembly recently passed legislation to make it easier for stations to offer discounts for cash purchases, bidding to cut consumer prices by 10 to 12 cents on average.

Discounts for cash customers may not, however, be the stations salvation.

The National Association of Convenience Stores reports about two thirds of transactions at gas stations were with credit or debit cards in 2007, a figure expected to rise this year.

"The problem with cash discounts is, if people donÂt have the cash or donÂt want to spend the cash, youÂve inconvenienced them," Lenard said.

The experiment at Mr. EdÂs Chevron, though, has paid off so far.

The station has been in business for 44 years and the ban on plastic hasnÂt scared many people off, Randolph said.

"WeÂve got generations of customers who come here," he said. "Most of them have accepted it."

I always use my debit card.

We'll see!

Wonder if that means their own credit cards--like Cenex card. I try not to use visa or mastercard credit card but do use a debit card.

We buy Walmart cards and get 3 cents off at the pump at Walmart. Cheapest gas for us.....

I load money on to the cards at the checkout and then use at the pump.The only trouble I have ever had was we would use the same card and reload each fillup but then the strip on the back wears away and I had to take 2 separate cards back to register to reload onto a new card.
Now we just toss the cards each time so we don't run into that problem.

That is a problem, especially for smaller, local operations. Hm. I use big chains. Mostly I go to Kroger, where with my discount card + $100 week average grocery purhases (which I do and then some anyway) I qualify for a 10 cent/gallon discount. If I also used a Kroger Mastercard to pay for the gas, I could save 15 cents/gallon. But I do not have one of those, though.

Maybe that's why national chains are offering their own Master/Visa cards. Without paying fees to other credit card companies, they can offer customer's a savings/gallon to use that company's M/V card, like Kroger is doing now.

Kroger is also doing a thing now where if you buy their gift cards they add $30 for each $300 increment. I keep thinking I should do that. I spend almost $300 every two weeks in groceries, so it would make sense to get $30 free. If I also did that for gas, I would save a tidy amount by the end of the month.

AND they're going to keep giving 2% back to the school I've registered for. ;o)

I do not use any gas station that does not let me pay at the pump, much less requires cash. I do not carry enough cash on me to fill up my tank. I would drive several blocks out of my way for the convenience of using my debit card at the pump. Do not remember the last time I paid inside, it has to be years.

Wow! If gas stations only accept cash, I wonder if bank robbers will go in to a new line of work. With the price of a gallon of gas, that is a lot of cash going in the till.

Bank tellers may have less to worry about. All the action will be at the gas stations.

Kim

I hate the thought of charging gas anyway....I will pay with cash/debit cards until it gets so high that I may have to charge it! I hate to charge something I can't see!

Here in Florida, the cash/gas card only pumps charge extra for non-gas cards, including debit!!!

Grrr. I hate carrying cash.

Use my debit card cause I get rewards.
Cashed one in for $$$ not too long ago. :o)

Hmmm.... MasterCard and Visa both have an official policy that merchants cannot charge customers a fee for using the credit card. Seems to me that giving cash customers a discount equates to the same thing...

Lindsey, my husband pointed that out to me awhile back (about merchants not being allowed to charge customers a fee) when my co-worker was charged a fee for using her credit card at a restaurant. I went to the Visa website and there it is in black and white. They cannot charge customers a fee.

I haven't noticed any gas stations around here charging a different price depending on if it's cash or credit.

Sheryl

Our local BP station posts a price of $4.01 if you use cash or a BP credit card. If you use another card it's .30 more per gallon. They caught me once but never again.

As a small motorcycle shop, we have stopped accepting credit cards as of May 1. The transaction fee is .25 to swipe and .25 to process and then percentage of the sale amount. If the card is declined we still pay .50. If the consumer gets rewards the percentage rate is higher. Debit cards are slightly lower but we still pay .50 per transaction. There was a slight learning curve in the beginning, but it's working out just fine and saving us money.

Msmarion, the fees are terribly high for businesses. My ex-boss owns a convenience store here in town and I used to help with the bookkeeping. He definitely didn't make much $$$ on the fuel sales. Someone else is making the profit.

I always use a debit card when buying gas because I don't want to have to go inside to pay. When I go to WalMart (25 miles away), I always buy a gift card so I can get the 3 cent discount.

So far I haven't seen any places here that don't take plastic. I wouldn't think of using a credit card unless I planned to pay the balance in full when the bill came in!

My local gas station has a sign "same price cash or credit". I generally use plastic but I pay the card off fully every month before it is due.

I pay cash, but all the stations/conv. stores in my area have gone to pre-pay except for the only one that still pumps for you. (a rarity!) A customer has to go in, leave a deposit, pump the gas, return to the clerk. A pain! but I can't say I blame the store because of drive-off thefts.

I did leave one store (a major company) last week ..... I had no way of knowing how much I'd need, but was going to leave a $20 deposit. Sorry...you leave a 20, $20 is all you get - clerk pre-sets the pump. I'm not playing that game when there are other stations in town willing to let me pay the difference. Didn't think to ask if they kept the change if I'd only needed $18 (I know they wouldn't, but still wish I'd asked!)

Should be discount for cash.

Retailer not only pays substantial fee ...

... s/he waits a month or two for the money.

Time is money, too.

When I ask clerk about card, she says doesn't care.

I say how'd you like to have pay due tonight ... but get $96.00 - 98.00 when you're owed $100.00 ...

... plus get a promissory note from your employer ... "payable in 45 days".

They'd be ... MAD!

Look for work elsewhere.

Plus - the store owner has to pay for the swiping eqpt.

Plus ... as one guy said ... if they attempt a transaction, and it's refused ... the transaction fee applies: the "credit" (read "debt") card co. still had that work to do.

But - if there's no sale ... the credit card co. doesn't eat the cost of the "No sale".

Guess who does?

The store owner says that he does.

He's only partly right ... he may eat part of it, if he can't raise his price. But if he can ... the person using the credit card whose claims always goes through pays part.

I say that I help, also ... for I, a cash customer, pay as well, in increased price on every piece of merchandise, due to those fees, and delays in receipt of the cash that the store owner needs to pay her/his bills.

ole joyful

P.S. As for walking to the counter to pay for the gas ...

... rumour has it that exercise, e.g. walking, is good for the health.

Avoid it?

Obesity.

Diabetes.

Heart attacks.

o j

P.P.S. Then ... my health insurance costs more, too.

o j