Credit card fees: Some gas stations say 'no more'

By TOM BREEN
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- 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. Ed's 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.




find full article here
http://hosted.ap.org/dyna...8-13-29-00
[Edited 6/18/08 12:15pm]

thank God "mission accomplished".


At least that is what the President told me.

there are gas stations around here that have been doing that for years right on there signs its says price with cash

I am seeing more and more gas stations around here (Bay Area) charging a higher price for credit cards. Normally around 10 cents a gallon more if you are paying with a credit card.