trick to last until payday.....

Quote :

" Beginning February 1, 2011, when purchasing gas "at the pump" using your Visa Debit or Cash Points Global card and selecting "credit" as your payment option, $26.00 will be authorized and held against your account balance until the gas station settles the actual charge for the amount pumped. The Credit Union will only debit your account for the amount of the final transaction. The $26.00 authorization amount will be deducted from your available balance until the transaction settles or three business days have passed, whichever occurs first. The Credit Union is not responsible if transactions are not authorized while there are pending transactions on your account. In order to avoid the $26.00 authorization hold, you may select the "debit" payment option at the pump and enter your PIN or pay for your fuel inside the gas station with the cashier. Once your gas transaction is complete, the exact amount of your purchase will be held in authorization. "

1/19/2011 11:55:49 AM

WHAT

This is a conspiracy to get you to go inside and buy more slurpees.

1/19/2011 11:58:20 AM

why not just charge on a real credit card to begin with if someone doesn't have the money in their account but will on payday?

Or am I missing something here?

[Edited on January 19, 2011 at 12:00 PM. Reason : .]

1/19/2011 11:58:42 AM

can you state your source please

1/19/2011 12:01:29 PM

https://www.ncsecu.org/highlights/PayatPumpTransactions.html

I guess it only affects people at SECU. SECU has for years, since the beginnings of the debit card, been the only bank that would not $rape you if you authorized $1 at the gas pump knowing that shit takes 2-3 days to go through and they do not even charge you a fee if it does and puts your acct negative.

1/19/2011 12:03:24 PM

I've heard of this trick before

Basically when you are broke and need gas, you go to a gas station and use your debit card and get gas. The gas station will debit your card $1 until they can process the charge fully (sometimes can take 3 days)

So if you are broke and only have $1 in your bank account, you can still get a tank of gas. Just have to make sure you put $$$ in your account before the full charge clears.

It works best if your bank doesn't charge overdraft fees in case you can't the $$$ back in right away.

[Edited on January 19, 2011 at 12:04 PM. Reason : f]

1/19/2011 12:03:54 PM

I'm not broke, and I support this. Sucks after a long trip $5 magically turns into $110 I'd rather just pay it all upfront and not bother with delayed billing. $26 is very close to what I typically spend at the pump.

1/19/2011 12:04:07 PM

i always use the debit option if i use a debit card

on account of not being an idiot

1/19/2011 12:04:40 PM

I guess I still have to ask, why go through all this trouble for a "trick" using your debit card when this use is one reason credit cards came about. This trick is only useful if you were going to have the money in the next 2-3 days to deposit anyway, meaning you wouldn't have to worry about any interest build up on the credit card or anything.

[Edited on January 19, 2011 at 12:09 PM. Reason : .]

1/19/2011 12:08:27 PM

Probably maxed out credit cards or no credit cards at all.

1/19/2011 12:09:07 PM

What's the big deal here again?

1/19/2011 12:09:13 PM

^^^ Yeah. I guess if you can't even pay for a tank of gas, one of those possibilities is not out of the question.

[Edited on January 19, 2011 at 12:12 PM. Reason : .]

1/19/2011 12:11:25 PM

What's the big deal here again?

1/19/2011 12:11:55 PM

Quote :

"why go through all this trouble for a "trick" using your debit card when this use is one reason credit cards came about. "

When my credit card info was stolen (likely at a gas pump, no less) I didn't have one and had to rely on a debit card for buying gas.

Still no clue why they have this change, but if its just a hold then I don't see any real problem

1/19/2011 12:14:56 PM

It probably makes financial sense for the credit union. Lets figure they have a percentage of negative accounts every week like wed until friday. That could cost them money since they have the money on loan so to speak between the account going negative and the persons paycheck getting deposited.

If they figured average gas purchase to $26, even if you cost $46 to fill up they are only putting $20 on the line vs the full amount. I cant complain about this because SECU is still way in my favor since they do not charge overdraft fees for virtually anything. (only time they nail you is bad checks, and you still get 2 "fee free" days per year).

1/19/2011 12:20:05 PM

Quote :

"SECU has for years, since the beginnings of the debit card, been the only bank that would not $rape you if you authorized $1 at the gas pump knowing that shit takes 2-3 days to go through and they do not even charge you a fee if it does and puts your acct negative"

Coastal Federal CU doesn't do anything like this either. If I had $5 in my account, I could buy $5 in gas just fine. They never placed a hold or anything like this.

1/19/2011 12:25:15 PM

^SECU is not going to place the hold if you use your card as debit...so you can still get $5 gas for $5 with no hold.

The point is that you can no longer run your card as credit and get $40 gas for $1. Now you can only get $40 gas for $26.

1/19/2011 12:37:34 PM

I always use the credit option, because for some fucking reason if I select debit I get an error and it makes me go inside and talk to the moron behind the counter instead of just letting me start over at the pump

1/19/2011 12:38:26 PM

I try not to use my PIN at gas pumps if I can help it. So this really makes no damned difference to me. Plus, I tend to not let my bank account go to shit, even though I have little money.

1/19/2011 12:41:00 PM

^? If you run your card as a debit (enter a PIN), then it shouldn't make a difference. No $26 holds, no nothing.

If you run your card as credit (which it sounds like you're saying you do), then, yes, this could technically make a difference if you ever have less than $26 in your account or ever want to buy more gas than you have money for.

1/19/2011 12:48:55 PM

Not using my PIN is a paranoia thing, not a money thing.

And the second part is resolved because I don't let my account get that low.

\/ Nope, didn't misunderstand it. Completely understand. Just saying it doesn't really impact me, so whatever.

[Edited on January 19, 2011 at 1:02 PM. Reason : -]

1/19/2011 12:49:31 PM

I never speculated as to why you do or do not use your PIN. And I don't care.

I was just correcting your post since you clearly did not grasp the gist of the policy change.

1/19/2011 12:56:49 PM

I don't think his post was about the policy change... merely stating his preferred method of payment

(As was I)

1/19/2011 12:58:43 PM

Your post is stating your preferred method of payment and why. His post is stating his preferred method of payment and how that jibes with the policy change.

Allow me to break it down for you:

Quote :

"toemoss: I always use the credit option, because for some fucking reason if I select debit I get an error and it makes me go inside and talk to the moron behind the counter instead of just letting me start over at the pump"

The unbolded portion is your preferred method payment. The bolded portion is about why that is your preferred method of payment. You make no mention of the policy change or its effects on your preferred method of payment.

Quote :

"Senez: I try not to use my PIN at gas pumps if I can help it. So this really makes no damned difference to me. Plus, I tend to not let my bank account go to shit, even though I have little money."

The unbolded portion is about his preferred method of payment just like your unbolded portion. However, the bolded portion here is different than your bolded portion. It's not about why he prefers to use that method. It's about how he believes the policy change will not affect his preferred method of payment.

Do you understand the difference?

[Edited on January 19, 2011 at 1:09 PM. Reason : ]

1/19/2011 1:08:50 PM

Lawd have mercy...

1/19/2011 1:15:03 PM

Quote :

"I don't think his post was about the policy change"

I'm gonna stick by that because the gist of both posts was "Fuck it, I've always used credit, and I'm gonna keep doing it", because
A) I get an error if I use debit
B) He doesn't like to put in his pin

Neither of said this change was either a good or a bad thing

Quote :

"I was just correcting your post since you clearly did not grasp the gist of the policy change."

We both understand what the change means, it's just that it isn't going to make us change our habits.

1/19/2011 1:38:00 PM

I'll just pay cash now...I liked the $1 trick...you could always get gas in case of an emergency....my question for SECU is why $26?...why not just make it so you cant pay at the pump

1/19/2011 1:53:05 PM

^^Why are you saying "we" as if I responded to your original post? Let's try this again.

Quote :

"Senez: I try not to use my PIN at gas pumps if I can help it. So this really makes no damned difference to me. Plus, I tend to not let my bank account go to shit, even though I have little money"

You notice that word in bold there? It says "so." See, the "so" indicates a connection between his preferred payment method ("I try not to use my PIN at gas pumps if I can help it.") with how he believes the policy will affect his preferred payment method ("So this really makes no damned difference to me.").

As I've already pointed out, he got it backwards. If he uses the PIN, then the policy change won't affect him. If he uses his card as credit (he indicated that he does), then the policy change will technically affect him (he will have a hold of $26 instead of $1 now).

And, to be clear, I did not respond to your original post or correct your post or indicate that you misunderstood the policy change. See how the little caret is pointing towards his post and not yours?

[Edited on January 19, 2011 at 1:58 PM. Reason : ]

1/19/2011 1:57:58 PM

Quote :

"my question for SECU is why $26?...why not just make it so you cant pay at the pump"

They are not trying to stop people from buying gas, likely they are just trying to make things easier for them as its getting more difficult to allow people to overdraft and then charge them fees. I imagine the $26 didn't just come out of nowhere, I would gas its some kind of mean or median purchase amount among their customers.

1/19/2011 2:05:44 PM

OK... forget my post

This policy change DOES NOT affect which method of payment Senez prefers.

[Edited on January 19, 2011 at 2:11 PM. Reason : syntax]

1/19/2011 2:07:29 PM

back when shit was real bad I would fill up all the cars before it went negative

1/19/2011 2:38:26 PM

[Edited on January 19, 2011 at 2:41 PM. Reason : F it, this is dumb]

1/19/2011 2:40:37 PM

1/19/2011 2:48:27 PM