Credit Card Blog

If you drive a large vehicle, you may have noticed yet another consequence of high gas prices: you can’t even fill up your tank when you pay at the pump with your credit card, because you’re not permitted to charge more than $75 in gas purchases.

Wait, what? Yes, it’s true. Many gas stations have instituted a $75 transaction limit for customers who pay at the pump with their credit cards. To pump more than $75 worth of gas, customers have to do a separate transaction or have their card swiped inside the store by a cashier.

Needless to say, many customers are angry about the transaction limits. But who’s really to blame? Card issuers insist that the merchants are the ones who choose to put such limits in place. Merchants point out that card issuers won’t reimburse them for more than $75 if a customer disputes a charge or uses a stolen card to pay for their gas purchase.

Regardless of where the guilt lies, it’s safe to blame the $4/gallon gas prices that have brought about situations like this one.

Have you been the target of multiple direct mail credit offers in the past? Pre-screened offers of credit clutter mailboxes from coast to coast. A good offer is a good offer, but sometimes all those envelopes feel like overkill.

Well, if there’s one good thing to be said about the state of the economy, it’s this: credit card direct mailings have decreased.

Financial services have reduced their direct mailings by about 13% during the first quarter of this year. Mintel senior analyst Chris Zagorski said, “One of the main drivers definitely has to do with the economy. With credit lines tapped and people struggling to make ends meet, both consumer spending and savings are down.” In other words, if people aren’t spending money, it’s probably not economical to spend so much money marketing to them.

The reduction in direct mail offers still leaves consumers with a lot of mail. Financial service corporations sent out about 4 and a half billion pieces of mail during the first quarter of 2008. Yikes! If you’re still overwhelmed by the number of pre-screened credit offers you receive, you can do your own mail reduction by calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or visiting www.optoutprescreen.com.