SHEETZ Company tries cash-at-pump setup

The system should reduce theft because customers must insert credit cards or cash before they can pump their gas.
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- No fuss, no frills, no friendly clerks -- gas-and-go could become a little easier at Sheetz gas stations for people who prefer cash.
At a gasoline station in Johnstown, Sheetz is testing a system, made by Ohio-based Diebold Inc. and Texas-based Autogas Systems Inc., that allows customers to pay for gas with cash and get change without setting foot in a store.
Sheetz, like three-quarters of the convenience stores in the country, allows customers to pay at the pump with credit cards. But giving people without plastic a chance to gas-and-go is somewhat different, spokeswoman Amy Hanna said.
"It's great for mothers who want to pay cash but don't want to take their children out of the child seat to go to the store," Hanna said.
Hasn't caught on
Although cash is still king at the country's 125,000 convenience stores -- two-thirds of all transactions are done with bills -- cash hasn't had much cachet when it comes to paying at the pump, said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores.
Fifteen years after Mobil quietly introduced pay at the pump, fewer than 1 percent of the pump-payment systems at convenience stores accepted cash in 2001, Lenard said.
Aside from the universal frustration of a cash acceptor repeatedly refusing bills, the price of topping off a tank has pushed many consumers to plastic.
And then there are payment methods such as Mobil's Speedpass that eliminate the need for fumbling for cash or a credit card. Customers simply wave tiny radio transponders -- which charge purchases to credit cards -- across the pump.
"You don't even have to touch the machine. You don't have to worry if the bill is crisp or clean," Lenard said.
Benefits
But Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz is hoping the cash-at-the-pump system will make lines shorter in the store, about 50 miles east of Pittsburgh, where people hoping for a quick pit-stop can find themselves stuck in traffic behind those buying pretzels, soft drinks or cigarettes.
It could also cut down on people who gas and dash, filling their tanks without paying. Customers have to insert credit cards or cash before they can pump gas.
Sarah Smith, 20, from nearby Nicktown, said she had no problems with the system, which gives out change from a nearby device similar to an automated teller machine.
"It's different, but it is a lot more convenient. It's also the closest gas station to school, so I'll be back," Smith said.
Customers can no longer prepay with cash in the store, and if they want to eat-and-run and gas-and-go, they'll have to take out their wallets twice.
Hanna said the convenience store chain will test the system for a few months before expanding to its more than 280 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.
"We want to work out any kinks, see how it works," Hanna said.