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Is Petroleum Card Services the Right Choice for Your Gas Station Payments?

Name: Petroleum Card Services
Item: Petroleum Card Services
Rating: 3.5
Author: Phillip Parker

Author: Phillip Parker

Updated: September 29, 2025

Maintained Since: October 6, 2011

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We take our role in providing guidance and education regarding the card payment industry very seriously. At our own expense, we have vigorously defended our right to continue expose unethical and predatory practices in the industry, successfully defeating every attempt to silence us. However, fending off frivolous lawsuits is costly. To sustain these efforts, one of the ways we generate revenue is through affiliate partnerships with ethical providers. This means that some of our outgoing links connect business owners to trustworthy, low-cost payment processors, which is what most of our readers seek. We see this revenue channel as a win-win-win for everyone involved. Business owners find good processors, processors get good clients, and we are able to continue to provide a valuable service to the small business community. We also recommend and link to many services that do not compensate us. Our priority is to guide you to the best solutions for your needs, regardless of potential revenue. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us.

All mentions of rate and fee costs are estimations based on publicly available information and client feedback. Actual costs may vary based on a variety of factors unique to your business.

Petroleum Card Services

Rating

3.5/5

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Pros

Industry Expertise

Comprehensive Services

Dedicated Support

Cons

Higher Fees

Contract Length

Equipment Leasing

Limited Transparency

Mixed Reviews

Overview

In this Petroleum Card Services (PCS) review, we’ll provide an overview for businesses in the petroleum sector considering their services, covering rates, fees, and contract terms to clarify the financial commitments involved. We’ll examine common complaints, industry ratings, and user reviews to present a balanced view of PCS’s reputation, while also highlighting their payment processing options such as fleet card acceptance, mobile solutions, e-commerce support, and virtual terminals tailored to gas stations. In addition, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of their services, customer support quality, and legal history, before assessing PCS’s overall performance in the credit card processing industry to help you determine whether they’re the right partner for your business.

About Petroleum Card Services

Screen Capture of Petroleum Card Services Homepage — Petroleum Card Services Homepage

Founded in 1999, Petroleum Card Services is a merchant account provider that specializes in providing credit card processing for gas stations. Petroleum Card Services (PCS) is a subsidiary of Paysafe and uses First Data (now Fiserv) as its card processor. Although PCS is not a direct processor, it appears to manage the customer service of its accounts directly instead of outsourcing this service to Fiserv.

Products & Merchant Services

Payment Processing

Petroleum Card Services specializes in processing debit and credit card transactions for gas stations. Their offerings include EMV card readers, swipers, EBT support, wireless payments, and compatibility with various POS terminals.

Fleet Card Processing

Petroleum Card Services provides fleet card processing, allowing businesses to accept payments via fleet cards commonly used to manage fuel expenses. This service simplifies transactions for businesses and their corporate customers.

Mobile Payment Solutions

Recognizing the need for mobile transactions, Petroleum Card Services offers a mobile payment solution. This service enables businesses to process card payments using mobile devices.

E-Commerce Solutions

With the increasing importance of online commerce, Petroleum Card Services has developed a secure online payment processing solution. This service helps businesses manage online transactions safely and efficiently, supporting online shopping and pre-payments for fuel.

Virtual Terminal Services

For businesses handling remote transactions, Petroleum Card Services offers a virtual terminal service. This allows businesses to manually enter card details into a secure online system, providing a practical solution for remote payment processing.

Integrated Business Tools

Petroleum Card Services offers integrated software solutions for business management. These tools include payment processing, inventory management, CRM, and data analysis.

Customer Reviews & Sentiment

Low Complaint Total

As of this review, only a few negative Petroleum Card Services reviews have been filed online, most of which can be found in our comment section below. Among these complaints, one is related to customer service, another seems to be the fault of the merchant rather than Petroleum Card Services, and a third appears to be an isolated incident that was successfully resolved. Two complaints received responses from a company representative, who addressed the concerns professionally. If you have your own Petroleum Card Services review to share, please feel free to do so in the comments below.

Petroleum Card Services Customer Support Options

Petroleum Card Services provides a live phone support number and email contact information on its website, meeting the standard expected of top-rated processors for excellent customer service.

Industry Scores & User Ratings

Online Ratings Summary
PaymentPop	1
BBB Rating	N/A

PaymentPop Rating for Petroleum Card Services

Negative Feedback

Terrible cust service

Positive Feedback

There are no positive reviews published about Petroleum Card Services on the PaymentPop website.

Petroleum Card Services BBB Rating

Currently, PCS has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau since 2013 and has an “A+” rating based upon 1 complaint filed in the last 36 months. The lone complaint was resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or received no final response.

What Merchants Say

PCS has received 1 negative informal review on its BBB profile. This review describes held funds:

We were switched to PCS by our credit card provider as a cheaper alternative than what we had been using. They have held one of our deposits for over 3 months now without depositing them into our account. Trying to get them transfer our money to us has been nothing but one excuse after another. They are currently blaming the Federal Reserve for not sending our ACH transfer to us (for over 3 months now). All you get is a run around with them and our local rep is no better. I would give them a negative star review if possible. Our next recourse is legal action as it seems to be our only hope.

Clients can avoid situations like this by understanding why processors hold funds.

An “A” Performance

Given the company’s clean complaint record, we agree with the BBB’s rating at this time.

Processing Rates & Fees

What Agents Say

According to an agent of Petroleum Card Services, the company offers month-to-month contracts with no cancellation fee. Additionally, the agent stated that Petroleum Card Services passes the wholesale interchange processing cost onto merchants with only a 5 cent ($0.05) markup and no percentage markup whatsoever. These claims sound almost too good to be true, and they are directly at odds with the company’s actual merchant agreement. That contract also includes an equipment lease through First Data Global Leasing which is non-cancellable and typically lasts for 48 months.

What the Contract Says

According to the company’s merchant agreement, Petroleum Card Services fees include a three-year agreement with a $300 early termination fee, a one-time $25 set up fee, an annual PCI Compliance fee of $109, a monthly minimum of $25, an annual membership fee of $75, and a tiered pricing schedule. These terms are more expensive than industry averages and are nowhere near the prices that a representative quoted to CardPaymentOptions.com. However, these exact terms may be outdated or exclusively offered by a specific agent.

Pricing May Vary

If you have any knowledge of whether the document provided on the company’s website is accurate, please share that information in the comment section of this review. For now, business owners should not assume that Petroleum Card Services offers pricing that is competitive with cheap merchant accounts.

We also encourage you to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant accounts.

Lawsuits & Legal History

No outstanding class-action lawsuits or FTC complaints have been found against Petroleum Card Services. Dissatisfied clients seeking non-litigious resolutions against the company should consider reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations.

Employee Reviews & Sales Practices

Outside Sales Team

Petroleum Card Services appears to rely on a combination of telemarketing and independent sales offices to market its accounts, but there are currently no Petroleum Card Services reviews that accuse the company’s sales staff of unethical practices. PCS likely benefits from its narrow focus on a single industry.

This compares favorably to our list of best credit card processors.

No Deceptive Quotes

PCS does not utilize any deceptive advertising or sales tactics that are apparent to us. In light of the company’s low complaint total and its lack of deceptive advertising, we have awarded it an “A” in this category. If you suspect that Petroleum Card Services is overcharging you, we recommend seeking a third-party statement audit to find and eliminate hidden fees.

Petroleum Card Services Competitors

Compare Petroleum Card Services to competitors that earned top marks.

Pricing

Bottom Line

Petroleum Card Services (PCS) stands as a specialized merchant account provider for businesses in the petroleum industry. Over the years, PCS has received a relatively low volume of complaints, reflecting a decent reputation in the market. However, concerns have been raised regarding their partnership with First Data (now Fiserv) and the inclusion of non-cancellable equipment leases in their standard contract terms, which could lock businesses into unfavorable long-term financial commitments.

Despite these concerns, it may still be possible for businesses to negotiate more favorable terms with PCS, especially if they approach the negotiation process well-prepared. Businesses considering PCS for their merchant services should undertake comprehensive research and actively negotiate to improve the terms offered. Comparing PCS’s pricing and contract specifics with top-rated providers in the industry is also advisable to ensure they secure the best possible service for their specific needs.

Read Actual User Reviews

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All user reviews have been moved to our partner, PaymentPop.com

Contact Petroleum Card Services

Contact & Customer Support
Vice President	Lori Groboski
Headquarters	2243 Park Pl, Minden, Nevada 89423
Toll-Free Support	(866) 427-7297
Website	pcspayments.com

About Us

CardPaymentOptions.com

Established 2009

My name is Phillip Parker, and I started this website back in 2009 as a simple blog to call out shady credit card processors that were taking advantage of small business owners. At the time, I had no idea this side project would grow into a leading voice pushing for transparency and integrity in the payment processing industry. I also didn't anticipate just how far some of these companies' owners would go to try to silence me.

I was recruited out of college for a sales role with a credit card processor. At the time, I didn't realize the “training” was really about tricking me... into selling business owners expensive processing with hidden fees and long-term service agreements. In my first few sales, I unknowingly cost friends and family thousands of dollars after they trusted me to switch their services. When it finally clicked that something was seriously wrong, I was furious. I quit immediately and made a promise to expose that company and any others operating the same way. That promise is what led to the creation of this website.

As I wrote about these processors, their tactics, and the people behind them, the articles started to spread among business owners. News organizations picked up the stories, readers shared them online, and traffic to the blog took off. Unsurprisingly, that also caught the attention of the companies and individuals I was exposing.

Over the last 17 years, I've received several anonymous death threats and defeated four lawsuits meant to intimidate me into taking my blog down. Their efforts to muzzle me only made my determination to expose them even stronger, leading me to work with state authorities to help shutdown some of the worst offenders.

I'm proud to say that of the millions of people who have read my work, thousands have taken the time to write and thank me for helping them narrowly avoid a very costly mistake. This blog has played a small role in pushing the industry toward more ethical practices - but there are still bad actors out there, which means the work isn't done.

If I can offer one piece of advice, it's this: get every promise in writing, and take the time to review contracts carefully. Tools like ChatGPT can help surface red flags and uncover expensive surprises buried in the fine print.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. I truly appreciate you being here, and I wish you every success with your business.

Our Research Methodology

Pricing & Fees

We analyze all costs including rate structures (interchange-plus, tiered, flat-rate, etc), monthly fees, equipment costs, early termination fees, and hidden charges. This data is gathered from service agreements, statements and client feedback.

Features & Technology

Evaluation of POS systems, e-commerce integrations, mobile capabilities, reporting tools, recurring billing..., and developer resources. When possible, we directly test services and hardware. Otherwise, we rely on client feedback and public information.

Customer Support

We evaluate availability across phone, email, chat, and social channels. Measuring hold times, night and weekend availability, and client feedback regarding effectiveness, professionalism, and resolution rates.

Contract Terms & Conditions

We review service agreements and equipment contracts for reasonability, transparency, and fairness. We focus on uncovering any predatory clauses, such as unjustified early termination fees, hidden costs, and unclear cancellation policies.

User Experience

We comb the internet and interview current and former clients to evaluate the overall user experience and identify any common pain points that may impact the user experience.

Sales & Marketing Practices

We evaluate sales tactics, marketing materials, and client feedback to determine the level of transparency and ethical nature of the provider's approach. Does the provider publicly disclose pricing? Do they use teaser rates? We score based on these and other factors.

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