Paying for petrol using your Discovery Credit Card: questions answered

I have seen numerous signs at petrol stations saying that credit cards can now be used to pay for fuel in South Africa – but I’ve often said to myself: “Yeah, right – they just want to charge you for the transaction and hit you with heavy interest charges – I’m not going to fall for that one!” 
But then I got thinking – maybe I can earn cashback on my Discovery Credit Card and points to use at the Vitality Mall…. Yes, now that’s appealing.

What if the fees and interest charges were much less than the cashbacks – well, it’s worth an email or two to the discovery card people to get some answers. 




I first investigated by going to the web site and there I discovered some other vague-to-me rules that needed clarification.

Here are the questions that I asked and the answers from Discovery Card:

Q: Can you tell me if there are any fees or interest charged if I were to use my Discovery Credit Card for fuel purchases?
A: Interest and fuel transaction fees on Discovery Platinum Card: We confirm that there are no transactions fees when using the Discovery Platinum card for fuel purchases. Furthermore fuel transactions done using the Discovery Platinum card will not be subject to interest if you settle the account in full monthly. 

Q: Would the spend on fuel be eligible for Discovery Miles and be counted as part of the total monthly Discovery Card spend?
A: Fuel transactions done with the Discovery Platinum card will also earn you Discovery Miles as well as count towards your monthly card spend.
Note from HTT: Don’t confuse this with the DiscoveryMotor card: using this for fuel purchases will not earn you Discovery Miles. The spend on your DiscoveryMotor card for fuel purchases will not add up to the total Discovery card spend.

Q: Why don't I get cash back for payment at Pick ‘n Pay clothing stores?  [as stated here: http://www.discovery.co.za/portal/loggedout-individual/shop-save-card]
A: A purchase at a Pick ‘n Pay clothing store using your DiscoveryPlatinum card is considered an in-store account payment similar to paying your municipal bill at a Pick ‘n Pay money market desk and is therefore ineligible for cash backs.  It is important to note that such a transaction will still contribute towards total card spend as well as earning you Discovery Miles.

So, to summarise: I will from now on pay for fuel using my credit card to earn Discovery miles and cashback :)

To re-iterate/highlight to HTT’s readers (from the web page):
You cannot get cash back for payment of in-store accounts or when you make third party payments (for example a telephone account) at partner stores and at Pick ‘n Pay express stores, Pick ‘n Pay pharmacies, Pick ‘n Pay liquor and Pick ‘n Pay clothing stores with your DiscoveryCard. However, these transactions do count towards your total monthly DiscoveryCard spend.

The following DiscoveryCard transactions do not count towards your total monthly spend:
* Cash withdrawals
* Traveller’s cheque purchases
* Electronic funds transfers
* Budget facility transfers
* Fuel or fuel-related transactions on the DiscoveryMotor card
* Foreign transactions
* Transfers between straight and the Medical Savings Booster

Also note that DiscoveryCard cash back does not apply at duty free partner stores.