WASHINGTON — QUESTION:
Are gas stations really allowed to charge you extra cents per gallon if you use a credit card?
ANSWER:
Yes, it’s legal for merchants to charge you a surcharge fee if you use a credit card.
SOURCES:
National Conference of State Legislatures
Creditcard.com
Nerdwallet.com
PROCESS:
Our Verify crew is always here getting you facts to things you question in your community. A Virginia viewer wants to know if gas stations are allowed to charge you extra cents per gallon if you use a credit card?
To find out, our researchers checked with a couple of groups, the National Conference of State Legislatures, Creditcards.com and Nerd Wallet.
Retailers tack on credit card surcharges to purchases to cover the merchant fees they have to pay to the credit card company to process the transaction. The merchant fee is roughly two percent of the transaction, but the fees add up quickly.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures,11 states prohibit merchants from placing a surcharge on credit cards transactions.
But D.C., Maryland and Virginia don’t have laws preventing it so gas stations can charge extra for using a credit card instead of cash.
So, you can’t get around convenience fees and surcharges but credit card expert, Kimberly Palmer at Nerd Wallet says you can try to outsmart it.
“If you're using a credit card where you are earning three percent back in cash back, then you're essentially cancelling out that convenience fee…so you as a consumer can plan ahead and think about ways to minimize the impact of that convenience fee,” Palmer said.
So we verified yes, gas stations the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area can charge you a surcharge fee for using a credit card. It’s not illegal and keep in mind surcharges are not allowed on debit card or prepaid card purchases at any time, said Senior Industry Analyst Matt Schulz from Creditcards.com.