I don't think that a "per gallon" charge is ethical. The business will have a set cost to them per credit card transaction.

 

Unless I'm mistaken I thought that the credit cards companies charge the vendors a fee that is equal to a percentage of the transaction, with a minimum fee for small transactions. That is why many stores will not accept credit or debit cards for transactions under a certain amount.

I doubt it. I think the businesses are still charged a fee when people using debit cards.

 

A debit card is treated like a check. Typically a flat .25 per transaction no matter what the price is.

 

I don't think that a "per gallon" charge is ethical. The business will have a set cost to them per credit card transaction.

 

A credit card is a % of the transaction charge. It is typically a negotiated percentage. Can be anywhere from .5% to 3.0% depending on the size and volume of your business. 1.5% tends to be about the norm. Sometimes there is a minimum fee.

 

 

 

 

 

So on a gallon of gas @ $3.30 per gallon, the transaction fee is .05 per gallon.

 

A lot of the Thorton's in Lexington give a 3 cent discount if you pay at the pump with your debit card. Have been doing it for over a year.

 

I don't understand why anybody has an issue with this. They are simply passing the savings back to their customers. It's the people who pay cash that have been losing out. The credit card price is no higher than it used to be.

 

Almost every big truck stop on the highways has had a diesel cash price for a long time.

Didn't this kind of thing used to be more common years back? No one can predict the future, but it's hard to see this kind of thing catching on since over time more people are going "cashless," most especially for purchases like gas. My guess is this is in response to that, hoping to win some of those old cash customers back.

Been this way for years, and it's up to the owner even if it's part of chain such as Shell or Exxon. Will it grow, maybe but people need gas regardless and I'm not sure how many people are going to avoid one station which means dirving to another(spending more money) to save 75 cents to a dollar and that's if you're filling a 15-20 gallon tank all of the way.

I think there'll be stations that promote "same price, cash or credit", but will have their prices set accordingly, so that the consumer doesn't know that they're already paying the fee as well. So, instead of it being $3.30 per gallon, it'd be $3.35 (using CWF's example). And honestly, considering the prevalence of credit/debit cards being used...it wouldn't surprise me in the least that there aren't stations doing this right now anyway.

I think it is the future and it isn't only at gas stations.

 

Cash means cash or checks only. Debit cards get dinged with the fees that merchants pay for processing those payments so they are treated as credit cards as far as this fee goes. Those charges are typically 2-3% of all debit or credit transactions depending on volume and average ticket size. Those fees for a gas station could be very very high, so 5 cents per gallon is a small amount to charge and will only recoup a portion of those fees.

 

Most businesses eat the charge because it eliminates the extra labor involved in processing cash and checks, as well as eliminates the risk of accepting bad checks and the added costs of collecting on them. In addition, for gas stations in particular, accepting cards reduces the losses involved with drive offs, as theguru pointed out.

 

Good post! And, also reduces the risk of loss from cash disappearing.

A debit card is treated like a check. Typically a flat .25 per transaction no matter what the price is.

 

 

 

A credit card is a % of the transaction charge. It is typically a negotiated percentage. Can be anywhere from .5% to 3.0% depending on the size and volume of your business. 1.5% tends to be about the norm. Sometimes there is a minimum fee.

 

 

 

 

 

So on a gallon of gas @ $3.30 per gallon, the transaction fee is .05 per gallon.

 

A lot of the Thorton's in Lexington give a 3 cent discount if you pay at the pump with your debit card. Have been doing it for over a year.

 

I don't understand why anybody has an issue with this. They are simply passing the savings back to their customers. It's the people who pay cash that have been losing out. The credit card price is no higher than it used to be.

 

Almost every big truck stop on the highways has had a diesel cash price for a long time.

 

Gotcha. I was misinformed. :thumb:

 

With that info, I don't have a problem with it, but I'd likely not use a station that charged that fee.

Years ago gas station would have cash prices and credit prices, so nothing new. Heck, their used to be full service price and self serve prices, if I remember correctly.

I have no problem with the practice. I find what's more disturbing to me is that one of my check cards charges me .25 per transaction if I use it as Debit. Creates a quandary when I am faced with getting a discount for using a debit card. I find myself calculating the vaule of the discount against the .25 fee. Usually, I use my other check card instead. :lol:

My friend says pricing assumes 84% credit/debit.

 

So cash customers are subsidizing credit customers.

I have no problem with the practice. I find what's more disturbing to me is that one of my check cards charges me .25 per transaction if I use it as Debit. Creates a quandary when I am faced with getting a discount for using a debit card. I find myself calculating the vaule of the discount against the .25 fee. Usually, I use my other check card instead. :lol:

I think I'd change banks.

I think I'd change banks.

 

I have 2 banks. Both have their values. The one that charges the .25 per debit transaction isn't my main bank.