Payments platform Fiserv and service station operators, including BP, have warned their US partners and store owners not to deal in illegal vapes or risk heavy fines as a consequence.
Crackdown on Illegal Vape Sales
A coalition of state and city law enforcement officials in the US is pressuring shippers, e-commerce platforms, and payment networks to clamp down on a booming market in illegal vapes worth $9 billion or more in annual sales.
Backed by attorneys general from states including California, Illinois, and Arizona, as well as authorities from the city of New York, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, the crackdown has helped secure a ban on vapes by Shopify. Mastercard has also warned its partners that it would investigate if they enabled illegal vape transactions on its network.
BP, Marathon Petroleum, and Valero have issued notices to their gas station operators, warning that Mastercard or similar firms could issue mid-six-figure fines for a single violation or revoke their card processing services.
CardConnect, a payment technology provider and subsidiary of Fiserv, has also issued a notice to its partners, stating that vape sales must comply with all relevant laws or risk corrective action.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
