Abstract: A method for refueling an automotive vehicle at a service station wherein a customer-carried card used to pay for the fuel does not have to be verified for credit status or used to debit a customer's bank account by a computer remote from the station. The method includes the sequential steps of: (a) prerecording customer data onto a card microchip memory; (b) inserting the card into a reader/writer portion of a device attached to a fuel pump which verifies the data; (c) inputting customer-specified refueling transaction data using a keypad attached to the reader/writer; (d) processing the inputted data and commanding refueling by a radio-control and data processing unit; (e) recording updated transaction data onto the microchip memory; and (f) recording the updated data onto a station memory unit and subsequently reporting the data to the card issuer.