Debit Cards May Soon Fall Under Cash Prices at Gas Stations

Cash vs. card – when it comes to filling up your tank, it’s always an internal debate.

“I think it does play a big role, but in reality it’s not like you’re looking at that much of a difference,” said Shelton’s Eddie Radzion.

In Newington Wednesday, that difference was just over a nickel per gallon.

“I always use my card, and I know that’s bad,” said Delia McGuire, student at Central Connecticut State University.

But every penny adds up. That’s the idea behind legislation that would mandate any gas station with a cash discount to offer the same price for customers using a debit card.

Those who raised the bill said it was unfair to lump debit cards into the credit price, because they viewed debit as a form of cash.

“Not all gas stations are charging multi-tiered prices. I said 'okay it must be selective,' so we must create uniformity around pricing,” said State Rep. Marcus Brown (D - Bridgeport).

The bill passed through the House of Representatives this week, but earlier this year, Chris Herb testified against it on behalf of the Connecticut Energy Marketer’s Association (CEMA), which represents fuel dealers in the state.

“This is about the small family business being able to avoid higher debit card processing fees and benefiting their customers by rewarding them for avoiding those fees by paying in cash,” said CEMA President Chris Herb.

Right now, some gas station owners have already adopted the cash price on debit cards as a way to gain leverage on the competition, but if everyone is mandated to follow the policy, Herb believes that price break could disappear altogether.

“If I can’t afford to extend the cash discount to the debit card, but the law compels me to and that’s what this bill does, it mandates that you do, then I’ll just stop offering them and that’s unfortunate for the customer,” Herb said.

Brown, however, thinks otherwise. He said that even without a cash discount, local gas stations are generally cheaper than big-name stations with multi-tiered pricing.

According to Brown, the money brought in from the higher credit card price is enough to cover the credit card companies' fee for many stations.

“The charges that they’re charging credit cards versus debit cards are so high that even if they stopped charging the 10 cents for debit cards, the money they make from the credit card processing fee will offset the charges on the debit cards,” Brown said.

The bill is expected to go up for vote in the state Senate within the next few weeks.