MyCardBlog

My post “How to Save Money on Gas?” turned out to be a very popular post here at MyCardBlog. “Best Gas Cards Roundup” and “5 Top Rated Gas Rebate Cards” are also very popular in the past one month. I believe this phenomenon is due to the sky-high gasoline prices. However, there are more frustrating times for SUV, pickup truck, and motor home owner: With the climbing gas prices, they have to pay more money at the pump. At the same time, the credit card quirk at the pump makes it difficult for drivers to fill up their tanks completely.

Many gas stations have a $75 limit on Visa or MasterCard transactions at the pump! Of course, Discover card has a $50 limit at many gas stations.  American Express has different policies for corporate card holders and consumer card holders at the pump. This policy seems stupid to me. If we assume a SUV has a 25-gallon tank, the driver might need $100 limit at the pump to fill up the tank completely. The driver has to do another transaction to get his tank full.

The reason why the merchants set a $75 limit at the pump is to reduce the risk of fraud use of credit cards. And Visa/MasterCard typically only reimburse merchants only up to $75 per transaction at the pump if there is a charge back or a fraudulent card is used.

What can you do about this?

You have two options:

1. Start a second transaction. The limit system is designed to cut fraudulent charges, but it’s a ham-fisted tool. The limit is per transaction. You can just start pumping again in a new transaction. Starting a new transaction is an annoyance for customers, but it can become a burden for retailers that pay a per-transaction fee.

2.  Go into the store and pay to a cashier, where the limit is likely higher because it will be a face-to-face transaction.

If you are a SUV, pickup truck and motor home driver, it’s quite likely that you have to swipe your card twice at the pump to finish filling.