I always pay with credit cards at the pumps and would love a quicker solution. I wonder how this will work with the dangers while working the pumps with a cell phone?? This probably explains why no gas stations are signed up yet.
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Apple pay and gas stations???
- Thread starter flatfoot99
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Watch Mythbusters on the "Dangers of using a cell phone at the pumps"
Its a non issue. Urban Legend
There is another one out there with a woman shooting multiple gas cans with a rifle and they do not explode or ignite in the slightest bit.
Yeah the danger comes from sliding in and out of the car on cloth seats and the build up of static electricity if I remember correctly. With that being said don't some gas stations already have a contactless payment system? I believe its either Exxon or Shell one of them do. Not sure if it uses NFC though and if Apple Pay will be compatible with it.
never heard of that policy. Never saw a gas station that took NFC either though, only those speedpass things.
Its usually on the no smoking sign. Problem is once you change something like that, you set yourself up for a lawsuit. It probably explains why no one is lined up yet. Maybe they can have it where you make the payment from still inside your car?
I have never had anyone say anything to me while doing something on my phone at the pump.
Oh well, I dont stress it.
I wouldn't say all gas stations. The new gas stations that I see, like the new Cumberland Farms near me, have no such signs. In fact, they encourage you to use their mobile pay app to save 10 cents per gallon by using your phone at the pump.
The cut is coming from the credit card companies and member banks, not the merchants. Merchant fees remain at what they are now.
Besides, very few big oil companies have much to do with individual gas stations, as they've sold off the retail side of their businesses a long time ago.
But Mr. Gas Station Owner most definitely will want you to come in to Apple Pay, as you'll grab a pack of gum, or a coke while you're inside and that's where he makes his $£¥. There's not much margin in selling petrol.
All the ones in the Metro Detroit area have signs banning electronics and phones (in little print buried in a bunch of other rules, not a sign that is noticeable). Attendants don't always yell at people for breaking the posted rules. I see people with their cars running, getting back in their car and even smoking at pumps.
I'm guilty of getting back in the car in the winter, I always discharge any static on a metal surface away from the pump handle (where the fumes are building up) before approaching it. I've had one gas station say something in the last 15 years.
What's "Big Oil's" net on a gallon of gas? What's Big Government's?
But, yeah, this is about merchant fees anyway.
Source? I've never heard of this policy and I see people using their cell all the time at the pump.
It'll be there, somewhere.
This is what they generally look like, in the UK at least:
I believe they look like this in the US:
I bet you this will start changing as the evidence, or lack their of, start piling it up. I've never heard of a gas station exploding or even catching fire due to a cell phone. You are more likely to trigger a flame just by getting in and out of your car since that has been proven to cause flames. Always bugs me to see someone start pumping gas and get back in the car.
As for the NFC readers, I haven't ran across any in the US, but I saw a ton of them in Ontario Canada. Right on the gas pump. Says Tap to Pay here.
My 2 cents. I was a petroleum supply specialist in the army and cell phones were forbidden while working. Some people had them and nothing happened. The fumes can be ignited by static electricity. We were shown a video of a guy answering his phone while standing on top of a tanker. Boom.
JP-8, now F24, is a lot harder to ignite then regular old gas. One reason we use it.
Static electricity comes from anything, getting out of your car for instance is a big one. I've never experienced a static shock from touching a phone.