Today I wanted to talk about paying for your gasoline with cash. I have noticed over the last several months that gas stations have started to offer a price break on their gas if you pay with cash. Why is that, you ask? Well, because then they don’t have to pay a percentage of the sale to Master Card, Visa etc. They are giving YOU a discount so that they don’t have to give THE CREDIT CARD companies any money. It’s worth carrying a little cash in your pocket to get this easy discount!
Gas stations are apparently desperate to stop paying this fee, because the Shell gas station closest to my house has a new “feature” on it’s automated pump. The pump now asks “is this a debit card?” and lets you answer “yes or no”. Their reasonong is simple…if it’s a debit card, then the bank pays the credit card company fee, not the store. This sounds OK, except that some banks, like mine, charge their CUSTOMER to use their debit card AS A debit card! We get charged $1.00 per use as a debit card, so if I was distracted while at the pump, I would be charged $1.00 for using my card as a debit card. Isn’t that fun? No discount AND get charged extra! This is why I say that it pays to carry cash! And, although I know this will mean that we all have to go into the store to pay, I think we’ll be fine. After all, a little exercise never hurt anyone, right?
So, to sum up, pay for your gas with cash, and don’t declare your card to be a debit card, even if it is, when buying gasoline. Make sure you pay attention to what you are doing at the pump, because even though it is automated and very easy to buy gas nowadays, it is also easy to be distracted and pay more then you should for your gas!
Tags: Debit charges, Discount, Gasoline, Shopping
