Why do gas stations require a ZIP code for card payments while almost no other type of (physical) merchant requires this verification?
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After a credit card is stolen, thieves will often buy gas with it first, to confirm the card is valid. They can try multiple stolen cards at the pump to find a working one without a clerk getting suspicious, there are no cameras monitoring their face at the pump (unlike a checkout, which are frequently monitored by video), and it’s fast. So the payment processor for the gas station requires you to verify your zip code matches the one registered to the credit card before it lets you buy gas.
Once the card is verified valid, they will then either run to a store and use it, or they have a cloned version of the card already with a partner who will quickly check out with a bunch of high value goods at an electronics or department store before bank security catches on and flags the card.
Cloning, by the way, is why more merchants and banks are requiring chip. If your card number has chip capabilities, and the store has chip processing capabilities, the card verification process will force the merchant to use the chip reader. This protects you from your card being cloned, which is just a direct copy of the magnetic stripe on the card. The thieves can’t readily clone your chip with today’s technology.
So. Anyway. That’s why gas stations requires your zip code.
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