Credit card limits when filling up the tank
I've been out of the RV scene for a while but now that we have a new MH I remembered something about credit card limits at the gas pumps. Assuming those restrictions are still in place, are they cont...
Forum Discussion
LaTriker wrote:
Reason for setting limits on "at the pump" purchases.
If you go to Walmart and make a $200 purchase, Walmart will get a $200 approval from the credit card company, all is well. When you make a fuel purchase at the pump, the credit card company does not know the amount of your purchase until after you have completed the purchase, so they approve you for the largest amount most people buy ($75 or $100). The approved amount results in a conditional hold against your credit card limit. If the conditional hold was $500, and you only purchased $10 in fuel (motorcycle purchase) 3 or 4 times in one day, the $500 conditional approvals would quickly eat up a large credit card limit.
This makes total sense.
When you use you cc it goes thru 3 different hands. The merchant, the processing company (the consumer never sees) and then the cc issuer (the one who gives you the bill in the mail). Based on what I have read in these threads the limit is set by the processing company. The merchant gets to choose who they use for processing. Limits can be different for visa, mc, Amex or discover at each location.
