Once upon a time, when V-8s encased in steel roamed the highways and gas stations wanted your repeat business, you could get a deal on gas if you used the station’s credit card.  The gas station chains wanted to inspire customer loyalty and to make stopping at their particular pumps part of your regular routine.  The card savings weren’t much, but they were a little perk to being a regular customer.

That’s not the way it’s working these days.  In fact, we’ve come full circle.  Today, you can save money on gas by paying with real cash money instead of plastic.

Hundreds of gas stations have started offering special rebates of up to six cents per gallon off for thos customers who are willing to part with paper money instead of just sliding their credit or debit card through the machine.

Why?  Times have changed.  While inspiring customer loyalty was a top priority once upon a time, today gas stations are more concerned with finding a way to combat the processing fees they’re charged for credit card transactions.  Those “interchange fees” are usually around 2% and can sometimes hit 3.5%.  That’s money the gas station is paying out to its card processing services in exchange for handling the plastic transactions.

In many jurisdictions, the law says that gas stations can’t charge you extra for using a card.  That does not, however, mean that they can’t charge you less if you pay in cash.  So, they talk about “cash rebates” and put up signs that make it clear that you can get a few cents off with cash to stay on the right side of the law.  It’s a matter of semantics, but it must be working.  I don’t see too many gas station owners taking a perp walk on the evening news, after all.

I can’t find anyone who’s saying it out loud, but I think there’s another reason for the cash discount.  If you use plastic, you might just pay at the pump.  All you’ll buy in that situation is fuel.  The station owners aren’t making much, if anything, on actual gas sales and can end up losing money on gas when processing fees enter the equation.   If they can get you to walk into the store to pay at the counter, however, they have a shot at selling you a candy bar, a soda, a piece of beef jerky or a pack of cigarettes.  You might even break down and buy that loaf of bread at the convenience store instead of stopping by the supermarket.  When customers buy more than gas, they become more profitable and persuading them to come on into the shop is the only way to make that happen.

So, should you be paying cash for gas?  It is a decent way to save money on fuel.  It’s not going to make you rich, though.  One news station projected the annual savings with cash rebates on gasoline to come to around $15 for the average driver.  Let’s be honest, that isn’t a big deal.  Then again, every penny counts.  It’s your call.

Just remember that securing any real savings is going to now hinge on your ability to resist the siren songs of donuts, candies, soda, coffee, beef sticks and Lotto tickets.  If you walk into the store and make a single impulse purchase you’re going to completely erase any gains made over multiple visits.

Everyone hates paying more than they must for gas.  If you’re hardcore about keeping your fuel expenditures down, consider paying with greenbacks instead of a card.