Major UK supermarkets to implement new fee adjustments at petrol stations

Motorists are being warned about potential payment changes at petrol stations for Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s. Some fuel stations will now require a £100 pre-authorisation fee before refuelling, marking a significant shake-up at the leading supermarkets and branches.

At Asda, 82 sites feature drive-thru payment kiosks at superstores, with 14 of these sites having already undergone conversion since December of the previous year. Changes are also on the horizon for Sainsbury’s and Tesco branches.

In April, Morrisons finalised the sale of its forecourts business to specialist operator Motor Fuel Group (MFG). The £2.5bn deal encompasses 337 of the supermarket’s petrol stations and 400 associated sites in the grocer’s car parks.

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Sainsbury’s has self-service pumps that enable customers to pay for their fuel at the pump rather than entering the kiosk. These Pay@Pump facilities will request a £100 pre-authorisation amount before refuelling to ensure that customers have sufficient funds to cover the cost of fuel dispensed, following new industry requirements mandated by Visa and MasterCard.

Morrisons has confirmed that there are no plans for the MFG petrol stations at Morrisons sites to be fully cashless. The supermarket has taken a 20 per cent stake in MFG and agreed commercial and supply deals, which Morrisons said underpins its convenience growth strategy, reports Birmingham Live, reports the Express.

Morrisons is booting up its financial fitness, revealing plans to splash £1.8 billion of their sale stash to beef up their balance sheet and slash debts. The store’s bigwigs said: “While the company may elect to apply up to £1bn proceeds towards reinvestment, it intends to explore if there are efficient opportunities to apply proceeds to debt reduction.”

Tesco said: “We accept all UK-registered chip and pin cards at our Pay at Pump stations, except for Visa Electron,” and mentioned an array of fuel cards welcome at their kiosks, including fuelGenie, UK Fuels, Keyfuels (purple card only), Allstar for the drivers out there.

Tesco added: “If your account balance is under £120, your card issuer should respond with the lower amount they’ll allow, and the fuel pump screen will show the value you can fill up to. Some card issuers might not allow partial authorisations below £120. If this happens, please try another payment card.”

An Asda spokesperson said: “As more than 90 per cent of all payments on our Superstore forecourts are made via card or a contactless device, the colleagues who worked on these sites are moving into the store so they can better serve our customers. These conversions began in December and we expect to complete the changeover later in 2024.”

The full list of Asda superstores now fitted with drive-thru payment kiosks includes:

Queslett, Oldbury, Minworth, Shirley, Colne, Bradford, Bolton, Horwich, Queensferry, Colchester, Canterbury, Greenhithe, Darlington, Great bridge, Dudley, Fleetwood, Govan, Cumbernauld, Gloucester, Kingswood, Ipswich, Kilmarnock, Kirkcaldy, Bootle Strand, Hunts Cross, Lincoln, Eastlands, Hulme, Radcliffe, Byker, Nottingham, Norwich, Chadderton, Newport (Isle of Wight), Havant, Clayton Green, Barnsley, Swansea, Charlton, Slough, Swindon, Sunderland, Donnington Wood, Golborne, Birchwood, Westbrook, Runcorn, Leigh, Skelmersdale, Bridge of Dee, Portlethen, Middleton Park, Bristol Whitchurch, Patchway, Newtonards, Cardiff bay, Pentwyn, Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Derby, Bideford, Woking Sheerwater, High Wycombe, Elgin, Wrexham, Morley, Ashington, Mansfield, Grantham, Kettering, Corby, Great Yarmouth, Rochdale, Fareham, Swindon, Eastleigh, Falmouth, Hartlepool, Watford, Cannock, and York.