ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — By this summer, you'll be getting more protection at the pump. WFTV found the mandatory new technology local gas station owners must buy to make sure all you pay for when you fill up is gas.
Identity theft isn't likely the first thing you think about at the pump, but credit card companies are currently asking tens of thousands of convenience store owners to upgrade their equipment to encrypt your personal credit and debit card information where you fill up.
"I think it could be a good thing, personally," customer Mia Melendez said.
In February, WFTV reported that someone installed skimmers on gas pumps at stations in Flagler County. The thief ran up thousands of dollars in illegal charges with cloned bank cards.
According to the Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing, Visa and MasterCard are leading the industry charge to increase security at the pump. The move will cost convenience store owners around the country an estimated $5 billion.
"There's no choice, we have to do it," convenience store owner Akbar Parpie said.
That's if Parpie wants to continue to accept debit card transactions at his pumps on Primrose Drive in Orlando, and it wouldn't be much of a convenience if he couldn't.
The current deadline to install the encryption equipment is July 1, 2010. The encryption equipment is not without its cost. At one station in Orlando, it will cost $2,500 per pump.
"Gas is a highly-competitive market. If you pass it on to our customers, then we lose our customers," Parpie said.
That means Parpie, and store owners like him, must absorb the costs of any upgrades and hope that customers repay them with their business.
Stores that don't comply with the new encryption rules risk heavy penalties. They could be fined up to $5,000 per month or lose the ability to accept credit and debit cards.
WFTV
