Comment by thaumasiotes
7 hours ago
You think writing a check to a gas station is an unacceptable security risk?
That's just the way people have paid for gas since they had bank accounts.
7 hours ago
You think writing a check to a gas station is an unacceptable security risk?
That's just the way people have paid for gas since they had bank accounts.
First of all, I stand by my so-called "stereotypes" because everybody knows what types of people own/operate every convenience store and gas station in the big cities.
Second, it appears that you're deliberately conflating "writing a check" with an ACH authorization. These are definitely not the same animal. Yes, a paper check contains my signature and all data points necessary to establish an ACH transaction. No, setting up ACH in an app is not "writing a check" but its equivalent is "handing over a book of blank, signed checks" to the vendor.
Normally these days, fuelling up at a gas station is postpaid. It used to be the case that you could hand $25.00 to a cashier and they would authorize the pump for that amount, and you just max it out with however many gallons (or less, and return for your change). But in a credit/debit transaction, the little grubby pump-POS (or human) does a preauth for $$$ and then the pump measures out how much gas you actually pumped, and then the transaction settles overnight for the measured amount.
So that really is a blank check. It doesn't matter when you're not using the grubby physical POS or an app. The gas station owner is the final arbiter of how much gas, and therefore how much you owe. Correct me if I'm wrong, but ACH protocol isn't sophisticated enough to have preauth and settle; the vendor will just say "give me $$$" and the account will transfer it, no questions asked.
The consumer won't have a leg to stand on, because it will be the robo-pump that measured out the gas, and you've already, allegedly, taken that amount of gas and put it in your tank, so if you claim that you only pumped a gallon but the pump asks for 30 gallons worth of money, who's wrong?
So all the risk of vendor fraud still exist there. No, a third-party skimmer won't be effective, but I often wonder how many skimmers were installed with knowledge or tacit approval of the fly-by-night owner/operator.
I do not see how an ACH app transaction makes any gas station more honest or accountable from a consumer perspective. But now I love my boomer father even more for keeping his little fuel logbook in every car he has ever driven. I'd like to see him in a small claims case against Sri Singh McSikhface.