You may be much better off pushing the "Pay inside with card" button at the pump instead of paying at the pump with your card. Once you hit that button, put your gas in, then go inside and pay with your ATM card.
According to this story in my newspaper today, what is happening is, when you pay at the pump, the credit card company is adding a $75.00 "temporary fee" to your account until the transaction is processed the next day, then the $75 comes back off. (It used to be only a dollar, which would go UN-noticed to most... but now $75.00!) So if you just got $40 worth of gas, added to $75 temp fee, that is showing as a $115 transaction, and if you only had say $80.00 in your account... because you just deposited your paycheck and it has not had time to clear yet.... or you are down to your last 80 bucks and think it is OK to get $20 worth of gas.... bam!!! You are instantly hit with an overdraft charge! And it does not matter what bank you use, because it is the credit card company that is doing it... VISA, MASTERCARD...
It is total bullshit... and I believe I will paying inside with my card for now on.
http://www.dailyhome.com/news/2008/dh-localnews-0627-cnorwood-8f26v3443.htm
'Pre-pay fee' adds to shock at gas pump
By Chris Norwood
06-27-2008
Everyone is currently feeling the pain at the pump, and there is not really anything anyone can do about it. But you can avoid some additional pain by paying inside and using your Personal Identification Number (PIN) rather than paying at the pump.
According to First National Bank Vice President Chad Jones, gas stations and several other businesses have traditionally included a $1 “preprocessing” fee that is taken off the transaction once the credit card company submits the final paperwork to the bank. But as the price of gas has skyrocketed, credit card companies have determined that $1 is no longer sufficient, and upped the preprocessing fee to as much as $75.
“Suppose you have $200 in your account,” Jones explained. “Then you go and buy $100 worth of gas by paying at the pump. There will be a $75 preauthorization fee that will be added on. Now that fee will come off after 24 to 72 hours, but if you go out after you buy your gas and get $50 worth of groceries, your card is either going to be declined or you’re going to get hit with overdraft fees.”
The fees are deemed necessary by the credit card companies because they have no way of knowing, once a card is authorized, how much the final transaction will be, let alone whether there will be enough money in the account to cover the purchase.
Fees don’t come off immediately because the storeowner first sends each batch of receipts from the store to whichever credit card company, which then send them to the banks, which take off the authorization fee.
Thus, the way to avoid this particularly hazardous temporary charge (without having to resort to paying cash) is to pay inside, after you have finished pumping. Since the amount of the transaction is already known, the authorization fee is not necessary.
The same rules, Jones added, apply to those using credit cards. “So watch out if you’re getting close to your credit limit, too,” he said.
“This isn’t something the banks are doing, and it’s definitely not something the gas stations are doing. This is coming down from the credit card companies. And if gas prices rise again, which the probably will, the fee is going to go up to.”
About Chris Norwood Chris Norwood is a staff writer for The Daily Home.
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Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:02 am