alt Hacker NewsThat's a little crazy, because gas stations. I would probably be OK, if such a deep discount was offered, with setting up ACH to some major chain with reasonable dispute policies, for example Target stores. Actually, Target brands their own credit and debit cards, so they kind of are the creditor already.
But you don't know who owns or operates a gas station. They've all got big brand names, but what's their business model? Who's actually running the transaction? The gas pumps are practically unattended and, highly regulated by Weights and Measures because of the high potential for vendor fraud already. Gas stations are already notorious locales for card-skimmer danger. So, I would be loath to get into an ACH bank dispute with Sri Singh McSikhface.
I already had massive troubles, some of them Visa-related, with local laundries and dry cleaners. They are vicious, fly-by-night, and dishonest. I would not risk the same shitty experiences with gas stations.
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You think writing a check to a gas station is an unacceptable security risk?
That's just the way people have paid for gas since they had bank accounts.
The point would have held without the off-the-cuff racial stereotypes…
I’m also wondering if you and I have encountered rather different permutations of these “pay-via-loyalty-app” schemes. In the part of the world where I’ve been spending time, the gas purveyors who I notice pushing the apps are the big, brand-name fuel station networks. The same ones who’ve pushed own-brand payment services to fleet managers for a while.
If you’re worried about card skimmers, wouldn’t you prefer to use the method that routes payment directly through Corporate Fuel Parent, rather than trusting the franchisee with any of your financial information?