Earlier in the week I posted about gas stations charging customers more (the 2% fee that VISA charges the gas company) when purchasing gas at the pump.  With this story getting a lot of hype, VISA has offered an official policy in regards to the legality of the issue:

You may have noticed that gas stations are starting to offer a different, higher price for credit cards. This isn’t technically allowed- unless it is marketed as a “cash discount.” In other words, if you fill up your car and find that you’ve been charged more than advertised because you paid with a credit card - that’s not allowed. If, however, you decide to pay with cash because you saw an advertised “cash discount” to the “regular price” - that’s ok. A subtle distinction, but an important one. 

Link: Credit Cards:…

There you have it, gas stations simply cannot charge credit card customers more than the advertised price.  The only way that a credit card customer is charged more is when the gas station offers a discount to customers paying with cash.  In this case, customers using a credit card are still charged the advertised price.

If you find a gas station that violates this rule, you can report them online.

Here’s Mastercard’s Merchant Violation form. To report merchant violations to VISA, they ask that you report them to the financial institution that issued you your Visa card. You should be able to find the number your on Visa statement or on the back of your card.

Justin