Service station operators warn US stores on illegal vapes

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, notices seen by Reuters show.

A coalition of ‌state and city law enforcement officials in the US is pressuring shippers, e-commerce platforms and payment networks in a bid to clamp down on a booming market in illegal vapes worth $9 billion or more ​in annual sales according to some estimates.

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 in recent weeks ​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.

Now, the documents seen by Reuters show, this stricter approach to illegal vape sales is gathering pace.

"BP has learned that MasterCard has begun issuing... ​compliance violation notices to merchants throughout the industry for processing sales transactions for illegal electronic ​nicotine delivery system products," BP wrote in an undated notice to its gas station operators.

The notice seen ‌by ⁠Reuters said that selling illegal vapes was also a violation of a store's agreement with BP.

CardConnect, a ⁠payment technology provider and subsidiary of Fiserv issued a notice to its partners stating that vape sales must comply with all relevant ​laws or risk "corrective action".

The notice said that CardConnect would send out ​a message warning ⁠all merchants using its services not to sell vapes lacking authorisation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

-Reuters