Store Owners Demand Cash Only for Gas Purchases

More bad news about those high gas prices: they’re not just affecting drivers. Some gas station owners are refusing to take credit cards for fuel purchases. Why? As the price of gas keeps going up, so does the dollar amount that the stores must pay per credit card transaction. These interchange fees mean decreased profits, and some store owners have instituted ‘cash only’ policies.
Gas sellers typically mark up the price of gas by eleven or twelve cents per gallon. Rising interchange fees take away about ten cents per gallon. But stores that stop taking credit cards risk losing their business altogether.
These interchange fees affect other retailers as well, but many small convenience store operations are being hit hard. For example, Mr. Ed’s Chevron in St. Albans, WV, makes about sixty dollars in profit from its monthly gas sales. But after paying out a whopping $500 a month in interchange fees, the manager there has decided that it's just not worth it to take credit cards.
“It kind of runs hot and cold, but I do know some stations have decided enough’s enough, and it’s cash only,” said Ed Stephens, VP of Englefield Oil Co., whose Duke and Duchess Shoppes are scattered throughout Ohio and West Virginia.
It looks like tough times ahead for gas station owners.