no more credit cards at gas stations

Have you heard of gas stations where you can't pay with your credit card no more? When gas station manager Roger Randolph realized it was costing him money each time someone filled up with $4-a-gallon gas, he hung a sign on his pumps: "No more credit cards."

He may be the first in West Virginia to ban plastic, but gas station operators nationwide are reporting similar woes as higher prices translate into higher credit card fees the managers must pay, squeezing profits at the pump.

"The more they buy, the more we lose," said Randolph, who manages Mr. Ed's Chevron in St. Albans. "Gas prices go up, and our profits go down."

His complaints target the so-called interchange fee — a percentage of the sale price paid to credit card companies on every transaction. The percentage is fixed — usually at just under 2 percent — but the dollar amount of the fee rises with the price of the goods or services.

As gas tops $4 a gallon, that pushes fees toward 10 cents a gallon. Now stations, which typically mark up gasoline by 11 to 12 cents a gallon, are seeing profits shrink or even reverse.

In a good month, Randolph's small operation would yield a $60 profit on gasoline sales. But that's been buried as soaring prices forced the station to pay about $500 a month in interchange fees.

"At these prices, people aren't making any money," said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the Alexandria, Va.-based National Association of Convenience Stores. "It's brutal."

Lenard's group reports convenience stores paid roughly $7.6 billion in credit card fees last year, while making $3.4 billion in profits.

The way interchange fees are structured has long annoyed retailers, prompting calls for relief.

Legislation pending in the U.S. House and Senate would allow merchants to bargain collectively with major credit and debit card companies.

The National Retail Federation says gas prices point to the unfairness of the system: Gas stations are paying more in interchange fees because the price of gas has gone up, while the cost of processing credit or debit cards remains the same.

Credit Trap

Credit was once defined as "Man's Confidence in Man." But in fact, the definition of credit today is more like "Man's Confidence in Himself." Using credit today means you have confidence in your future ability to pay that debt. Forty years ago, your parents may have paid cash for their homes and their cars, a largely unheard-of event today. If they borrowed money at all, chances are it was from a relative or friend, and not a financial institution. And today anyone can obtain a credit card, which is a doubtful advantage. You can now even apply for credit cards with bad credit. The question is where will that lead us??

Fill your tank in the morning

There are some misleading facts on how to save on gasoline.

You may have heard that it's best to fill your gas tank in the early morning while the fuel is cold. The theory goes that fluids are more dense at lower temperatures, so a gallon of cold gas actually has more gas molecules than a gallon of warmer gas.

But the temperature of the gasoline as it comes out of the nozzle varies little during the course of the day, according to Consumer Reports, so there's little, if any, benefit, to getting up early to pump gas.

I think everyone has heard about the accident that happened in Madison, Wis. The college student dialed 911 from a cell phone, but they never sent police for investigation, and she was killed. The case is being investigated and it's rather early to say if she could be saved in case the police had been sent. What do you think?

FICO score

I've heard they gonna switch to a new system of calculating FICO score, so it's gonna be not an easy task to apply for 0% credit card offers anymore. What do you know about it?

Drivers and global warming

I've just read an article on the problem of global warming and how does it influence drivers. The drivers in Los Angeles County will have to pay extra 9 cents per gallon at the gas stations or additional $90 on their car registration fees, to help fight the problem of global warming. The money will be used to sponsor public transportation and other projects that ease traffic congestion. Is it fair or not (taking into account that such projects are already sucking down taxpayers' dollars)?

Green Car Technologies

Speaking of environmentally friendly cars there are a bunch of green car technologies. The most promising alternative technologies are biodiesel, diesel, e-flex, electric, ethanol, hybrid, hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen internal-combustion, natural gas, plug-in hybrid. These types of clean fuel definitely have lot of advantages over gasoline. But I was looking through some gas credit card offers and there's still a question if credit companies are going to issue cards for alternative fuel.

I want to share some of my ideas about environmentally friendly cars. High gas prices, global warming are causing interest in cars and trucks with alternative powertrains, like gasoline-electric hybrids, clean diesels, ethanol and, fuel cells that run on hydrogen. There are some luxurious eco friendly cars too. Among them are Volvo C30, Tesla Roadster, Saab Bio Power 100, Mini Cooper, Mercedes Benz E320. Envirinmental protection mania have spread on the most reputable brands!

Financial Crisis

First months of the new year brought America some serious challenges. I found this curious article at and want to share it with you. It covers the most urgent problem of financial crisis in US. Its signs are evident and the question is what's going to happen with the credit cards market.