Arco now accepting credit cards
- Thread starter y_p_w
- Start date
Still rather pay debit. 35 cents for the transaction.
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
All of ours take CC’s … but we use debit cards often and will not at gas pumps …
Wait…..there are stations that don’t accept CC’s? What is this, 1950?
I laughed when I saw ARCO accepting credit purchases and adding 10 cents per gallon onto the price. As a percentage, this seems to equal approx the same as the transaction fees charged by credit companies. So I'm not sure if the higher fuel price makes them any more money, but opening up to more payment types is definitely a smart move for them. And it's about time, I mean really. What the heck ARCO.
One of the big issues here is that the Arco brand may not be the big one, but ampm. It's possibly the most well established gas station convenience store brand in the western US. So getting people to come in with cash rather than perhaps use pay at the pump might bring in more customers who want to buy convenience store items. Even then, I get that they make money selling gasoline and at a certain point having lines that are too long will dissuade people from buying anything - whether it's gas, a six pack of Coors, or some candy.
They never did take diners club and around here into the 90’s plastic had to go inside anyway
Jackson_Slugger
$50 Site Donor 2022
Em, ARCO is just a name brand and it's owned by Marathon now. They're making a bit of a push here and have taken over some Citgo stations. And their pumps take credit/debit cards....
It's really complicated though how it gets marketed.
Jackson_Slugger
$50 Site Donor 2022
A lot of places here advert a low price on their signs, with the caveat of "with a wash" or "cash price". It's pretty annoying and really should be illegal...
CC transaction fees are generally in the 3-4% range, so the math checks out-but they better be cheaper than everyone else, or they'll continue to lose customers. 7-Eleven has allegedly bought Speedway here, I'm hoping they'll do something about their pretty horrible stations!
True. Among the local top-tier gas stations, ARCO/AM-PM is always significantly cheaper than every other brand. I don't believe the ARCO additive package is quite as good as say, Chevron or Shell, but top tier is high quality and ARCO is a good value. I run Chevron most of the time, only because major fuel discounts are available through the Safeway rewards program, usually 30-60 cents per gallon (up to 25 gallons max). Without those I would probably be running ARCO.
Zee09
$200 Site Donor 2023
3-4 % is more like a mail order rate.
But I get what you're saying.
