Food, drinks, candy, cigarettes and other off the shelf items make the most profit for convenience stores and truck stops. While these items require constant replenishment from vendors, inventory control and price adjustments, a good point of sale easily helps monitor and control the flow from the shelves to the customers. On the other hand, gas pumps and the related equipment required to move fuel from storage tanks to the customer's car, price and collect payment, are costly, require certification, service, and repairs, yet deliver low margins. Now as an additional expense, gas pumps require EMV credit card readers to be compliant.
What does that mean to a store owner? It means that when a gas pump does not have an EMV reader to read the encrypted chip on credit cards, the card must be swiped. Swiping the mag stripe makes the merchant completely responsible for fraudulent transactions. When, not if, but when a stolen or fraudulent card is used to purchase fuel and the mag stripe is swiped because there is no EMV reader, then the payment amount is charged back to the store owner with no recourse.
For example, if $50 of gas is sold on a fraudulent card, the owner loses $50 on the sale, $50 worth of gasoline and the chargeback amount charged by the merchant services company, usually between $25 and $35. Now the storeowner has lost $125 because of the lack of an EMV reader. As chargebacks continue to increase, the merchant services company will raise the rate charged to process payments, not only on gas sales, but on all store sales. Then, as chargebacks continue to accumulate, the merchant account may be cancelled, leaving the store owner without the ability to accept cards and no other merchant services company willing to open an account with for them.
With this risk, why isn’t every station and truck stop EMV compliant? The answer is simple. Cost. A four-pump convenience store can pay as much as $50,000 or more to install pumps and the accompanying point of sale system. When the equipment is installed, the store owner is responsible for all costly pump maintenance and repair. Sometimes an owner will be sold used, reconditioned pumps with an aftermarket EMV reader. While saving money upfront, the long-term expense of maintaining a used pump and the lost sales when pumps are waiting for repair can have a store once again losing profit.
For every problem, there is a solution, right? How does an independent store without the deep pockets of a branded corporate store become EMV compliant? What if new EMV gas pumps and new point of sale systems could be installed with no upfront money? Pumps with a bumper-to-bumper ten-year warranty so there are no service or repair costs. In addition, the store wouldn’t have to pay for credit card processing, not only on gas sales, but on every item sold in the store. Now the store would be making more money with more gas sales, more traffic, no pump service bills, and no merchant service costs.
That solution has arrived. New GasPOS EMV pumps and Point of Sale installed with no upfront cost. Only a low monthly fee relative to the number of pumps required. No more chargeback concerns, no maintenance bills, no credit card processing costs and EMV compliant. Call Coastal Payment Systems today to get started. 866.3GASPOS or Apply Here.