Reports are coming in on Flyertalk and other forums that the Stop & Shop and Giant grocery chain is shifting to cash-or-debit-only policy for the purchase of Visa, Mastercard, and Amex prepaid cards.
Update October 2016: Giant/S&S are now accepting credit cards again for Visa/MC/Amex gift card purchases.
My friend Jay took a picture at one Stop & Shop store:
And here’s a picture from Flyertalk:
This is a new change as of today; the memo is said to have come in last night. It’s not clear if it effects all stores. It’s not yet hard-coded according to Flyertalk.
Sometimes there is a sign at the POS, sometimes a sign by the gift card rack, and sometimes it’s just a memo circulated internally.
This is a big hit to manufactured spending for those in the S&S/Giant area. Moreover, S&S/Giant often run bonus fuel points offers on Visa or Mastercard gift cards (including right now, ends today), and those are a lot less lucrative now. For someone with a small tank, these deals may not be worth it at all.
The max amount of value you can get in a lot of areas is $2.20 x 35 gallons, or $77. If you max it out at 35-gallons, it’s a good deal even when paying with cash. But if you only get 10-12 gallons, the value is more like $25 per tank or less, depending on the cost of gas.
RIP 🙁
