ROCKAWAY, N.J. – At a N.J. ExxonMobil gasoline station, customers paying with a credit card will pay 18 percent more than customers paying with cash, the Star-Ledger reports. The cash price per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.49 and the credit price was $2.93.
With station owners shelling out 2 percent to 3 percent of each credit card transaction in swipe fees, some retailers are passing along the expense to customers. While no state or federal regulations prohibit two-tiered pricing, cash and credit prices have to be clearly posted.
“Too often credit card fees are a cost of business customers rarely appreciate,” said Sal Risalvato, the executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline C-Store Automotive Association. “Today, everybody uses a Visa or MasterCard.”
Tom Meier of F&S Friendly Services in Bergen County would like to charge a lower price for cash but the cost of upgrading to pumps capable of handling two-tier pricing is expensive, costing between $12,000-$15,000. So his two-pump station pays around $1,800 monthly in transaction fees. “Back when the price was $3.50 a gallon, we considered investing in new pumps,” he said.