credit card limit
On a recent trip I tried out a new Nationwide credit card. At a couple of gas stations saw signs on the pumps spelling out money limits on certain card. One station stopped at $75 but would no...
Forum Discussion
OK, here are some FACTS about this topic....credit/debit card rules are set by the card brands, ie Visa, MasterCard, Discover, etc. For Automated Fuel Dispensers (AFDs) aka pay at the pump, fuel retailers are protected from fraud for transactions up to $100. In other words if somebody steals your card and uses it to buy gas, the card issuer is responsible for the fraud, not the gas station, if the sale is under $100. The cardholder is not responsible.
However, the retailer is free to set the limits wherever they like, it's their store. The fraud threshold for AFD sales was $75 for years, until it was raised to $100 when the price of gas jumped to $4. Many stations had the limits programmed at $75 and left them there because it is expensive to re-program a gas pump.
Fraud is not usually a case of somebody stealing your wallet...the data breaches that you read about in the news give the crooks the info they need to essentially make a copy of your credit card, so they're using it without you knowing about it until you get the bill. The reason for the limit is that there is no identity check at an AFD....the card that you are using may not be yours, it may be stolen...it may be a fraud copy of yours....or it may be that Junior snagged Mom's card from her purse so he could fill up the jalopy for date night. No station would allow pay at the pump if they had to every fraud sale...so to facilitate commerce, the card networks established a limit under which the retailer is protected from fraud sales.
For credit card sales, and debit cards used as credit without a PIN at the pump, some stations will ask for your billing zip code as an additional fraud prevention step. Retailers are not required to do so, and some older pumps can't support it, but the card networks ask that the retailers do so when possible to further limit fraud in the system.
For credit card sales and debit cards used as credit without a PIN tendered inside, there is no fraud threshold, the retailer is protected from all fraud if they authorize the sale and verify your identity. The clerk can turn the pump on manually and bypass the programmed limit if they choose to.
For debit cards used with a PIN, the retailer bears no risk of fraud, either at the pump or inside. However, most pumps cannot support two limits, one for no PIN and one with PIN, so debit card sales get shut off st the same time credit card sales do.
Whether or not you can use your card again at the same pump is mostly a function of the station having fraud controls built into the pump...some card issuers have algorithms that will decline a second authorization request from the same terminal but that's not common. I have never had a problem re-dipping my card to top off the tank.
Calling your bank or card issuer does nothing to bypass any limits the station has programmed into their pump.
Stations usually don't set pump limits at the truck lanes because that's probably the fastest way to PO your trucker customers...even if they have to eat a fraud sale or two that's over the $100 pump threshold, it's worth it considering the volume of business they would lose otherwise.
However, the retailer is free to set the limits wherever they like, it's their store. The fraud threshold for AFD sales was $75 for years, until it was raised to $100 when the price of gas jumped to $4. Many stations had the limits programmed at $75 and left them there because it is expensive to re-program a gas pump.
Fraud is not usually a case of somebody stealing your wallet...the data breaches that you read about in the news give the crooks the info they need to essentially make a copy of your credit card, so they're using it without you knowing about it until you get the bill. The reason for the limit is that there is no identity check at an AFD....the card that you are using may not be yours, it may be stolen...it may be a fraud copy of yours....or it may be that Junior snagged Mom's card from her purse so he could fill up the jalopy for date night. No station would allow pay at the pump if they had to every fraud sale...so to facilitate commerce, the card networks established a limit under which the retailer is protected from fraud sales.
For credit card sales, and debit cards used as credit without a PIN at the pump, some stations will ask for your billing zip code as an additional fraud prevention step. Retailers are not required to do so, and some older pumps can't support it, but the card networks ask that the retailers do so when possible to further limit fraud in the system.
For credit card sales and debit cards used as credit without a PIN tendered inside, there is no fraud threshold, the retailer is protected from all fraud if they authorize the sale and verify your identity. The clerk can turn the pump on manually and bypass the programmed limit if they choose to.
For debit cards used with a PIN, the retailer bears no risk of fraud, either at the pump or inside. However, most pumps cannot support two limits, one for no PIN and one with PIN, so debit card sales get shut off st the same time credit card sales do.
Whether or not you can use your card again at the same pump is mostly a function of the station having fraud controls built into the pump...some card issuers have algorithms that will decline a second authorization request from the same terminal but that's not common. I have never had a problem re-dipping my card to top off the tank.
Calling your bank or card issuer does nothing to bypass any limits the station has programmed into their pump.
Stations usually don't set pump limits at the truck lanes because that's probably the fastest way to PO your trucker customers...even if they have to eat a fraud sale or two that's over the $100 pump threshold, it's worth it considering the volume of business they would lose otherwise.
