Pay at the pump is a system used at some filling station

Filling station

A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...

s where customers can pay for their fuel by inserting a credit

Credit card

A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...

 or debit card

Debit card

A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...

 into a slot on the pump

Fuel dispenser

A fuel dispenser is a machine at a filling station that is used to pump gasoline, diesel, CNG, CGH2, HCNG, LPG, LH2, ethanol fuel, biofuels like biodiesel, kerosene, or other types of fuel into vehicles...

, bypassing the requirement to make the transaction with the station attendant or to walk away from one's vehicle.

The system was introduced in 1982 in Europe, and was first used in the USA by Mobil

Mobil

Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...

 in 1986. The system allows customers the convenience of not having to walk far from their vehicle, wait in line, or wait for the human station attendant to process the transaction. It also provides the attendants the advantage of being able to tend to other duties rather than being busy with customers. Only 13 percent of convenience stores had the technology by 1994, but 80 percent of U.S. convenience stores used the technology by 2002, and virtually all stores do today. In 2004, Sheetz

Sheetz

Sheetz, Inc. is a chain of gas stations/convenience stores owned by the Sheetz family. Stores are located in Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia....

 was the first to use touch-screen kiosks at the pump where customers can also order in-store foodservice

Foodservice

Food Service or catering industry defines those businesses, institutions, and companies responsible for any meal prepared outside the home...

 items that they pick up after fueling.

It is seen as a way to keep the cost of gasoline down by reducing the need for employees at filling stations. It is considered to be a major change from the days in which full service was the norm at filling stations, and the attendant not only pumped fuel, but also washed the windshield

Windshield

The windshield or windscreen of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike or tram is the front window. Modern windshields are generally made of laminated safety glass, a type of treated glass, which consists of two curved sheets of glass with a plastic layer laminated between them for safety, and are glued...

, and checked the fluids and tire pressure, all while the customer remained in the vehicle (full service is legally mandated in the U.S. states of New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 and Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

).

Fraud

Those who use the pay at the pump feature could be putting themselves at risk for fraud, as thieves attach skimmers to the pumps that can steal the information off the cards used to make purchases. Many debit cards can be used to make the purchase either as debit or credit. But those who make the purchases as debit are feeding their information into the skimmers.

Without the human interaction, there is no verification system when credit cards are used to make purchases, and no signature is required. This enables those in possession of stolen or cloned credit cards, or those who are otherwise making unauthorized use of another's card to purchase gasoline without a signature. Many stations now require customers making credit-based transactions to enter their zip code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 (United States) or equivalent (other countries) in order to be allowed to make a fuel purchase.

The receipts issued by the pumps, if not taken by the customer, often bear the number of the credit card used to make the purchase. If found later by a thief, this could be used to commit fraud against the customer. Laws in some places prohibit the full credit card number from being displayed on the receipt.

Cost to consumers

Some stations will place a temporary block on a certain amount of money in a customer's account following the use of a debit card to make a non-PIN

Personal identification number

A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...

-based purchase, since it takes about three business days to have the accurate amount debited. This could be as little as $1 or as much as $75. While this amount is placed on hold, the customer could be penalized for non-sufficient funds

Non-sufficient funds

Non-sufficient funds is a term used in the banking industry to indicate that a demand for payment cannot be honored because insufficient funds are available in the account on which the instrument was drawn. In simplified terms, a cheque has been presented for clearance, but the amount written on...

 when making other purchases on the same account. Stations are guaranteed to receive up to this $75 on fuel purchases, even if the purchase was made fraudulently and the card-holder is not held liable.

As gas prices have risen during the 2000s, many fill-ups are costing customers more than $75, the maximum amount that can be authorized from a single swipe. Credit card companies have considered raising this limit to accommodate larger purchases.

Cost to employees

The pay at the pump feature has led fewer customers to enter the area of filling stations that sell other items typically sold at convenience store

Convenience store

A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...

s, thereby hurting the profits stations make from such sales. This is seen as an advantage to the customer not just for saving money, but also by reducing clutter and mess in the vehicle.

The feature is also criticized for causing the loss of some jobs. While stations continue to have an attendant on duty, the customers are performing many of the former tasks of the attendant, thereby leading to less availability of employment.

Some filling stations are totally unattended and only allow customers to purchase fuel by paying at the pump.