Credit Card Limits on Gas Purchases?

You’ve probably never heard of it, and likely never had it happen to you either. Imagine pulling into a gas station, swiping your credit card and pumping your gas.

After a few minutes the gas pump shuts off abruptly, though you’re sure the gas tank isn’t quite full. You attempt to get the pump going again but nothings doing.

At that point you may be thinking a number of things. Is this gas pump broken? Is the gas station out of fuel!?

Those are reasonable assumptions, but you surely wouldn’t ask yourself, “Is my credit card over the limit?”.

Surprisingly however, it may have something to do with your credit card and the way issuers may limit your purchases at gas stations.

As a means to prevent credit card fraud, credit card issuers have been said to limit the total amount of money a consumer can spend at a gas station in a single fueling. This number varies by card issuer, and has likely never been a problem until now.

With gas prices climbing to $4.00 a gallon, and possibly even higher as the summer gets underway, consumers using credit cards at the pump may be surprised to see their fueling session get cut short.

Those likely to be affected are drivers of “gas guzzlers” such as the Hummer, or heavy-duty trucks and high-performance vehicles that demand premium, more expensive gas.

While these numbers can’t be confirmed, the caps are said to be $75 for MasterCard customers, $50 for Visa and Discover users, and an undisclosed amount for corporate card holders and American Express users.

The gas caps likely went unnoticed because of the relatively low price of fuel along with market research to avoid any mid-pump interruptions.

But now as gas prices march higher, credit card issuers may need to readjust those limits.

Related Topics:

1. Get More Gas For Your Buck Or Credit Card
2. Gas Stations Prefer Cash Over Credit
3. Best Gas Rewards Credit Cards
4. Periodically Raise Credit Card Limits
5. Capital One to Report Credit Limits to Bureaus