Banks win again on fuel charges

AS a service station proprietor I would like to make the following clarification on profit from fuel/petrol sales.

Most retailers are lucky to get 4-5 cents per litre profit on sales. Please note that’s 4-5 cents, not 4%-5%. Thus, on the sale of 20 litres, which is now approx €30, a service station, in most cases, makes 80 cents to a €1 gross profit.

I say in most cases because what people don’t realise is that if you pay with a credit card the charge to the retailer, by the bank, can be as much as 1.8% and on €30, this is 54 cents. So with as much as 33% of all fuel sales now being purchased by way of credit card, the gross profit for a retailer who receives payment by credit card can be as little as 26 cents on the sale of €30 worth of fuel. Banks win again.

D Murphy

Douglas

Cork