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When I worked in retail we asked everyone for their Zip code regardless of their payment method. We were told that it was so that the store could determine wher
by signed0 13y ago
When I worked in retail we asked everyone for their Zip code regardless of their payment method. We were told that it was so that the store could determine where their customers were coming from. Half the time we would just type in the store's Zip Code so that we didn't have to bother the customer.
Gas stations on the other hand use Zip Codes as a way to prevent fraud. I've had my card rejected before by typing in the wrong Zip Code.
- galaktor 13y ago> Gas stations on the other hand use Zip Codes as a way to prevent fraud. This also locks out customers with a non-US address (e.g. tourists) which often don't even have a 5-digit zip code or store it differently so that the check will fail, arguably defeating the entire point of owning a credit card.
- signed0 13y agoI'm not sure if this is always the case. ZipCar (a short term rental car company) provides a credit card that can be used to pay for gas. When you insert the card at the pump, the machine only asks for your ZipCar membership number. This leads me to believe that perhaps a card that was issued in a foreign country might prompt the user to enter something other than a Zip Code.
- dlitz 13y agoNope. I've done this with a Canadian card. It prompts for the zip code (at least, at many gas stations along the east coast).
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- yardie 13y agoIf it's any consolation most american tourists can't use their CCs in European gas stations (the automated pumps require a chip). And one attendant didn't even know how to swipe the card in the reader. Poor girl had to call her manager at his home.