I have been mystery shopping for about a year and this has happened to me twice.

How do you guys handle long routes of mystery shops (namely gas station shops) and credit cards. Twice my credit card company has flagged my card for fraud. I also have a second card which gets rotated with.

I am just wondering how you guys handle this?

If permitted (depends on the brand of gas and the MSC), buy a gas-company-branded gift card. Otherwise, rotate cards, Credit, debit, etc. Try alerting your bank fraud department in advance. I have accounts at multiple banks due to MSing, so it is never an issue for me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2019 02:41AM by myst4au.

I had the same thing happen. After two gas stations within an hour, the card declined for the third and I got an alert from my bank. I used a different card.

It's usually two transactions at the pump per 24 hours for my cards. After that I can use them inside but they won't work at the pump. I've only had a card actually flagged for fraud once where I had to call to get the card unlocked. I've called and tried to give warning but the CC companies say it's an automated system and while they can put it in the notes on my account it won't stop the transactions from being flagged. It's easier to use each card twice per day since I have a variety.

As others have said, the key is to have multiple cards. The more the better in some ways for MSing, if your credit will stand adding more accounts.

You can also get yourself on one or more of your cards as an authorized user in addition to the base user. Just call and ask them to ship you a second authorized user card which uses your initials and last name (or some other creative alternate that's truthful). If they ask why, you can tell them you want a card with a restricted limit to use for "travel" so your whole credit limit isn't exposed, and so if your card gets compromised you'll still have the main card to use while a replacement is shipped. You don't want to be caught with no card while travelling for work.

You can effectively double the number of cards you have available for use this way. In some cases you can get two authorized user cards, for a total of three cards on one account. Set all but the primary card to $100 or something...just enough to cover your typical route or month of the small charges.

Using only small limit cards as you wander the countryside isn't a bad plan anyway. That way if you run into a skimmer on a pump you can just kill the one card and keep shopping on the others. And the folks who harvested your card number get access to the restricted limit not he whole limit.

Warning: some companies can do this, some cannot. The only way to tell is to ask. Capital One has been great to work with, though not all reps know how to accomplish it.

What about using a gas company gift card? Do those work for paying at the pump? Do guidelines prohibit using a gift card?

Does paying at the pump with a debit card still put a temporary $50 hold on your bank account funds?

Sounds like some people my not be able to do routes if they don't have several different c.c's to work with. And it might depend on what bank your card(s) is with.

I definitely use that brand of gas station's gift card. I am able to load up to $500 at a time on the card and even used on very long routes (upwards of 80 within 3 days), I am still able to use the gift card without the gift card getting declined.

1) Use gas company gift cards. 2) Select debit instead of credit when possible (does not trigger 2-transaction limit.) 3.) Have one or more backup cards.

I've considered using the gas company gift cards but had so many cash cards hacked at gas stations it seems risky. I used to use the visa cash cards I got from rebates at office supply stores. At least with my credit cards I have fraud protection - and not the type where they tell you to send a notarized letter certified mail before they'll look into the case. I'd love to hear from others that have used the station's gift cards if this has been a problem and how the gift card company dealt with it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2019 03:32PM by wwin.

Never had my gift cards hacked, but my credit cards several times. It's not too big a deal with fraud protection on the credit cards. But I usually buy several gift cards with smaller amounts and discard them when they are empty. I feel safer using them.

Out in rural areas, gift cards just do NOT work. I've tried again and again. Doesn't seem to matter if they are branded or Visa/Mastercard, I've never gotten one to work at the pump.

And I'm so lazy, I just HATE going inside to use the card (yes, they'll work to prepay for the gas, just not at the pump), back inside to get a receipt, etc. Just purely too lazy.

I just rotate cards.

I have several credit cards and use a debit card sometimes. My debit card can be used over and over as long as I put in the pin. I also use cards inside for purchases unless it says cash only in the guidelines or the location charges a fee for a card purchase under $2.00 or whatever. Using the cards inside keeps me from having to ask for a receipt as they normally just give it to you. . Also in my area there are usually little bags of dry roasted peanuts that are .69 each so I can stay under the reimbursement without having to dig around the store to figure out what to buy.

JFF, that's genius! I am calling tomorrow to add authorized users! Especially for the cards that get more cash back on gas. Usually I can get through a route of gas stations using each of 6 cards only twice at any one brand. If it's a particularly large route, I occasionally dip into the debit card which is not a problem because the bank balance has enough to cover however many $50 holds I may incur. But by doubling the card count with authorized users I can get more cash back. This was an excellent tip! Thank you!

@sestrahelena wrote:

JFF, that's genius! I am calling tomorrow to add authorized users! Especially for the cards that get more cash back on gas. Usually I can get through a route of gas stations using each of 6 cards only twice at any one brand. If it's a particularly large route, I occasionally dip into the debit card which is not a problem because the bank balance has enough to cover however many $50 holds I may incur. But by doubling the card count with authorized users I can get more cash back. This was an excellent tip! Thank you!

You're welcome, glad it was helpful. I've done this for years, in and out of mystery shopping.

Branded gift cards are the easiest route to go but they have started being hard to find. I did an account opening shop and this account has no fees and is completely free so I started using the debit card for gas stations. I hate using credit cards as I don't like carrying them around with me, and I don't like exposing my real accounts to gas pumps aka skimmers. So I use a mix of branded gas station cards aka BP or Shell, for example, and the debit card for my gas station account since that is now what it is. I always buy a BP or Shell gas card when my last one is empty but I only buy the $25 ones as I have dropped them before.

I usually get a text or email from the bank asking to verify the transaction. Once you verify it, you can re-do the payment and it'll go through.

I have started using a gift card from Shell that I loaded onto the Shell app. I can then use that for my in store purchase using the new Shell pay. It also allows a real check to see if their cash registers are set up for Shell pay.
This will only work in areas that have cell reception to get the app to load. I have not tried using the app at the pump yet because I don't know if a receipt will print at the pump when using the app.

I do try to use gas station gift cards at the pump as much as possible even when not doing a shop. I load up on all the brands when my credit cards have the quarterly 5% rewards.

Just bring several credit cards. Mine seem to trigger on the 4th try -- even when I've called and notified the card companies before leaving.

I use branded gift cards and have for the last few years. I tried calling my Credit Card companies to alert them at first but that still didn't stop my cards from being flagged for fraud. I have also found that it helped me not to overspend as I know exactly my expenses and purchase the card with cash so I don't not pay off my credit card. If you belong to an organization or your kids' school that uses Scrip (where you get rebates that you can use for those organizations, for instance monthly dues, kid expenses, etc), you can purchase the cards through that and take advantage of the rebates.