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6/30/2008

There’s nothing like all-American rally the day before an all-American holiday — especially when it’s to fight outrageous credit card fees.

Rally coordinator Mitch Goldstone, editor of the blog WayTooHigh.com and president and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com and 30 Minute Photos Etc., is calling for “consumers and gas station owners alike” to show their support for the Credit Card Fair Fee Act and “demand independence from Visa and MasterCard's hidden credit card fees that add another 8-10 cents a gallon on top of already skyrocketing gasoline prices.”

If you’re in the Irvine, California, area on July 3, here are the details:

WHO: WayTooHigh.com — The Credit Card Interchange Report
WHAT: Consumers and merchants rally to stop unfair credit card fees on gasoline
WHEN: Thursday, July 3, 7:30 to 9:00 a.m.
WHERE: 30 Minute Photos Etc. in Irvine, Calif., at 92 Corporate Park Plaza; adjacent to the Chevron station on the corner of Jamboree and Barranca Parkway (near SNA John Wayne Airport)
EVENT COORDINATOR: Mitch Goldstone, (949) 474-7654; e-mail: Goldstone@ScanMyPhotos.com

| Category: Credit Card Fees | Email this Post | Comments (0) | Published: 6/30/2008 5:06 PM

6/27/2008

Get the Message Out

Having 115,000-plus convenience stores in the United States displaying their outrage – literally – at the pump over devastating credit card fees via pumptoppers is just one more way we can help educate consumers and Congress about this problem.

As of today NACS is making pumptoppers available free of charge to retailers. We’re urging retailers to put these pumptoppers in their promotional signage plans from August 1 to September 6, when Congress is in recess and members will be in their home districts.

The pumptoppers have two messages: “Tell Congress you want to know how much this fill-up cost you in credit card fees” and “That pain you are experiencing in part is caused by secret credit card fees.” Both ads encourage motorists to go to the Web site, www.unfaircreditcardfees.com, to send a message to their elected leaders.

The artwork is available in a variety of sizes and can be downloaded at www.nacsonline.com/pumptoppers. For retailers who are unable to print the pumptoppers themselves, NACS has arranged a significant discount for retailers who want to order them from signage company GSP at www.popmanager.com/ccfees.html.

Order your pumptoppers today!

| Category: Credit Card Fees; Operations | Email this Post | Comments (0) | Published: 6/27/2008 11:09 AM

6/25/2008

Their Pants Are On Fire

When all else fails, abandon the truth. That seems to be the playbook of the credit card companies as they continue a massive lobbying effort on Capitol Hill to prevent Congress from examining interchange rates.

Try this doozie — a must-read from today’s The Hill, which is widely read by D.C. insiders, members of Congress and their staff: A credit card lobbyist says that convenience stores have an interchange rate “that is lower than in other industries — 1.2 percent.”

In testimony before Congress, both Visa and MasterCard have said that 1.2 percent is the lowest available rate for supermarkets. However, it is nowhere near the lowest available rate at the pump.

Tell us your stories so we can share them with the media as we continue this fight.

| Category: Credit Card Fees; Government Relations | Email this Post | Comments (0) | Published: 6/25/2008 11:03 AM

6/24/2008

Pump It Up

With high fuel prices and credit card fees eating at retailers’ profits, gasoline theft is just one more nuisance to worry about. East Coast retailer Sheetz is hoping to curb this problem by offering its Pump First card for customers in Maryland (Hagerstown, Frederick) and West Virginia (Martinsburg).

The Sheetz Pump First card is linked to a customer’s driver’s license for identification purposes. When a cash or check-paying customer inserts the card to activate the pump and fills up, the final step is to go inside the store to pay. So if a customer uses their Pump First card and drives off without paying, Sheetz can quickly identify that customer and deactivate the card.

“The cost of gasoline continues to rise, and unfortunately so do the resulting drive-offs by a few dishonest individuals. Our increasing losses from these individuals who do not pay have forced us to go to pre-pay as a solution to control theft. While this change will help relieve the pressure of gasoline theft, we also know that it could cause loyal, honest customers to feel unjustly penalized,” said Louis Sheetz, executive vice president of marketing at Sheetz Inc., in a press release.

The Pump First card allows Sheetz to require pre-pay and gives its on-the-go customers the convenience of starting the pumps themselves. “We are pleased that we don't have to inconvenience our loyal customers,” he added, noting that coupons and rewards programs are in the works for Pump First customers.

Sheetz also announced that it is converting all of its convenience stores in Hagerstown, Frederick and Martinsburg to pre-pay.

Does your store offer a similar program? Or a different one? If so, let us know!

| Category: Best Practices; Technology; Operations | Email this Post | Comments (0) | Published: 6/24/2008 11:43 AM

6/20/2008

Wahoo! Or, Rather, “Yahoo!”

First Congress, and now the news.

The retailer’s voice is being heard thanks to recent new stories that are spreading the word about outrageous credit card fees. First up, the recent Associated Press story on cash-only stations that ran in hundreds of newspapers this week and has been customized by countless others, including one with this fantastic headline: “Interchange Fee Hitting Gas Station Owners’ Pocketbooks.” As of this morning, the AP story also resides as the top story on the Yahoo! home page, furthering consumer awareness.

BusinessWeek released a similar story this morning that highlights a new program by Flash Foods.

And Jan Vineyard, executive director of the West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association, wrote an op-ed in the State Journal that should be required reading for anyone buying gasoline.

If there is a story on card fees that appeared in your local paper, send it our way at news@nacsonline.com.

| Category: Credit Card Fees | Email this Post | Comments (0) | Published: 6/20/2008 11:10 AM

6/19/2008

Credit Card Receipts Requirements

On June 3, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act (H.R. 4008) clarifying what information must be excluded from consumer credit and debit card receipts.

As of June 4, any credit or debit card receipt given to the consumer must truncate the account number to no more than the last five digits and delete the expiration date.

Retailers must comply with one or the other of these provisions. Confusion associated with these previous requirements exposed retailers to liability for not complying with both of these requirements and prompted more than 100 lawsuits. The new law, endorsed and advocated by NACS, exempts from liability any receipt provided to a consumer between December 4, 2004, and June 3, 2008, that contains the expiration date.

If you have any questions, contact NACS Senior Director of Government Relations Chris Tampio at ctampio@nacsonline.com or (703) 518-4283.

| Category: Government Relations | Email this Post | Comments (0) | Published: 6/19/2008 2:20 PM

6/6/2008

“Part of the Pain In the Cost of Gas”

Gasoline prices are no doubt causing headaches, but so are credit card fees. Today, The Washington Post featured an editorial from NACS President and CEO Hank Armour:

"There is more to the May 25 front-page story about gas prices, "Peeved at Prices? Don't Blame the Dealer": the credit card interchange fee.

Interchange started as a fee to cover the cost of processing credit card charges by hand. Today, paying at the pump is fully computerized, yet credit card interchange fees have doubled since 2004, to nearly $8 billion a year just for motor fuels.

During the same period, convenience store profits have been cut in half. Dwindling profits is a big problem, and not solely for my members' wallets: Convenience stores that sell gasoline (and provide jobs) are closing.

With gasoline averaging $4 a gallon, 9 or 10 cents per gallon in interchange fees goes directly to the credit card industry — up to $3 per fill-up for many drivers. And everyone pays interchange fees through higher gasoline prices whether they use plastic or not. No one, except perhaps the member nations of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, enjoys higher profits from $4 gas than Visa and MasterCard."

Now that $4 a gallon is here, what's going on at your operations with credit card fees?

| Category: Credit Card Fees; Gas Prices | Email this Post | Comments (0) | Published: 6/6/2008 11:32 AM

No Mobile Payment Option?

Apple’s new iPhone is making it’s way to Japan, but there is one feature missing that users may not be willing to give up: the mobile wallet, writes Wired.

When the iPhone made its debut in the U.S., demand was high for Apple’s one-of-a-kind product. But in Japan, where cell phone technology is light years ahead, these same features may not be enough to lure the more advanced and tech-savvy consumer.

“Japan has long been famous for its advanced cell phones with sci-fi features like location tracking, mobile credit card payment and live TV,” writes Wired. “These handsets have been the envy of consumers in the United States, where cell technology has trailed an estimated five years or more.”

Also, notes journalist Nobi Hayashi, the iPhone “doesn't have 3G, the camera is only 2 megapixels, and it lacks fun little features like mobile wallet functions and an LED flashlight…it's not quite cutting it as a competitor in our mobile-based culture.”

For the past two years at NACStech, a workshop has been dedicated to mobile payment technologies. We know that the mobile wallet is coming to the western world, but when is the million-dollar question.

| Category: Technology | Email this Post | Comments (0) | Published: 6/6/2008 10:24 AM

6/3/2008

July 4, 2015

Last week, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) launched an energy plan that would declare July 4, 2015, as “America’s Energy Independence Day” by developing new sources of electricity, building more “cars of the future” on U.S. soil, making homes more energy efficient, exploring new energy supplies and promoting alternative fuels research.

Instead of a run-of-the-mill press release announcing his plan, Rogers and his staff have created a unique Web strategy that includes draft legislation, an interactive animation outlining his plan, a YouTube video, an outline of his proposal (H.R. 6161) and a “Declaration of Independence” for site visitors to sign.

In contrast to some policymakers blaming the industry for energy problems or in some cases even blaming retailers for high gasoline prices, Rogers has introduced a plan that focuses on the issues without pointing fingers.

| Category: Gas Prices; Government Relations | Email this Post | Comments (0) | Published: 6/3/2008 10:54 AM

5/30/2008

Hey Mr. Balloon Man!

Remember Kent Couch? The “Modern Day Jules Verne?” The Oregon retailer who used 105 helium balloons to soar for more than 193 miles in the air while strapped to his lawn chair? When he landed, the chair and his video equipment were swept away by a gust of wind and considered lost for good.

But almost a year later, Couch received some unexpected news: The chair and the equipment had been recovered at a ranch 13 miles from where he landed. We caught up with Couch at NACStech, who was ecstatic that the footage from his flight of fancy was in tact, as well as his lawn chair. Couch brought his video and chair to “Good Morning America” this morning in New York City and gave Diane Sawyer a demonstration of how he made his liftoff happen.

Couch operates a Stop & Go Mini Mart in Bend, Oregon. Check out the footage – but kids – don’t try this at home.

| Category: Operations | Email this Post | Comments (0) | Published: 5/30/2008 11:09 AM

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