Gas credit cards

Gas cards are cash back credit cards that have extra money coming back for gas purchases.

Cash back cards reward card holders with money when they use the card to buy goods or services.  This is because there is a merchant fee on each transaction that is made with a credit card and that is charged to the shop keeper.  Credit card providers found that it was in many cases cheaper to share some of this money with consumers rather than spend a lot of money marketing the cards to them.

Cash back cards usually pay 0.25% to 1% of the value of purchases made.  This can sometimes be enhanced with introductory offers that can be as much as 5% of purchases for a short period, usually between one and three months.

Gas cards have an enhanced cash back return for gas.  So in some cases there will be a 1% cash back element for most goods, but 2% cash back for gas.  Many cards that market themselves as gas cards also have enhanced returns for items such as groceries, restaurants and air travel.  There are often annual limits on the amount of cash that can be paid back with the enhanced card allowances.

There are different types of gas cards, generic gas cards and branded gas cards.  The generic gas cards have enhanced cash back rates for all gas purchases.  Branded gas cards only have the enhanced cash back rates with the particular gas brand.  However these can be considerably more generous than the generic cards.  Branded gas cards will have the name and the logo of the gas company appearing on the credit card.

With non-gas purchases in gas stations there is considerable variation as to whether they come under the enhanced cash back regime.  Broadly speaking generic gas cards do not allow for these purchases while branded gas cards do, although this can vary from card to card.

Not all gas stations are eligible for gas cards.  It is often the case that some franchise operators will not be eligible for enhanced cash back for the branded credit card.  It can also be the case that supermarket gas forecourts will not be eligible for the enhanced cash back element.

Gas credit cards should not be confused with company gas cards.  Company gas cards are issued by employers and can only be used at certain gas stations.  They cannot be used for non-petrol purchases.