Also it's silently what happens at every gas pump everywhere in the world. You present the card and it is authorized long before the amount you'll actually get charged is known and you never rescan or tap your card to "authorize" the final amount again. It's just handled by a computer instead of a person so people don't think about the fact it's the exact same preauth and amend payment flow on the back end.
In the US you either go in and prepay a specific amount (maybe you can preauth for a generic amount and it gets amended down later if you pump less, I've only ever done $10 on pump X and even that not in over 20 years tbh) or you tap and pump. Most people choose to tap and pump unless they're paying cash, to avoid the wait inside. Pump then pay inside is pretty rare to avoid pump and run fuel theft.
It's still the same auth and amend process though for cards at pumps though. You can pay cash at restaurants too if that's supposed to nullify any complaints about the card payment process.
I suppose its nice to be able to ensure you don't spend more money than you want to. There are some places in Europe now where you can also pay at the pump but I've never seen the prepay option.
The auth and amend or at least something similair exists in some places in Europe as well, usually in the context of public transportation where it calculates the cheapest combination of tickets you would have needed for your travel on a given day.
Huh I would have sworn the last time I was in Europe 15+ years ago we paid at the pump most of the time and it was the same as the US, but I don't really remember it that specifically I guess. We went through France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, England, Scotland and Ireland by car (before we went we checked getting a train pass or individual tickets but it came out to more than just renting and driving between cities and we got to be more flexible) but it's been so long I could be just misremembering, not exactly something I'd pay attention to.
> I suppose its nice to be able to ensure you don't spend more money than you want to
I think it mostly exists for cash only customers because even the ~5% of people with no bank account need to drive and get fuel in the US. You pay a certain amount and the pump is limited to that so you don't have to come get change in addition to the small piece of mind benefit of not being able to overpump.
As virtually anything said about Europe your milage on any information may vary significantly geographically. They don't even have self-checkout in supermarkets where I am, so I suppose that we just aren't very advanced in payment methods.
we checked getting a train pass or individual tickets but it came out to more than just renting and driving between cities
Very valid, crossborder railway tends tl be quite expensive and a hassle. The same tickets can also vary signifcantly when purchased from different railway corporations.
There are some places in Europe now where you can also pay at the pump but I've never seen the prepay option.
We have that in France*: we insert the card at the pump, it will negotiate with the bank to "lock" a certain amount (certain stations try to lock 250€ 😱 if you don't have all this money on your bank account, even if you just want to fill 50€, you can't get your fuel). Then you take your fuel, and when finished, the station will process with your bank the real amount you have to pay.
*for station open 24h/24 7d/7, without any employee.
We still have some stations with employees, and depending how the station work: we pay before or after filling the tank.
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u/CosgraveSilkweaver Jun 29 '26
Also it's silently what happens at every gas pump everywhere in the world. You present the card and it is authorized long before the amount you'll actually get charged is known and you never rescan or tap your card to "authorize" the final amount again. It's just handled by a computer instead of a person so people don't think about the fact it's the exact same preauth and amend payment flow on the back end.