Five Day Bank Closing Places Gasoline Station Owners At Risk, Association Says
Due to the five day bank holiday closing, gasoline station owners through their association, the Asociación de Expendedores de Combustible (AEC), made their concerns known to the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (Recope), of the possible tragic consequences that could occur.

Gasoline station owners have pay  Recope for their purchases before the state gasoline distributor sends the merchandise to the retailers. Few gasoline station operators have an established credit with Recope and the acceptance of cheques for payment is only available to those station owners who have been cleared ahead of time.

During the normal course of business, gasoline station owners make a deposit at any branch of the state banks -  Banco de Costa Rica, Banco Nacional or the Banco Popular,  to the credit of Recope.

However, during this Semana Santa, banks are closed for five days straight - Thursday April 13 to Monday April 17.

Only one mobile bank operated by the Banco de Costa Rica at the Ochomogo plant in Cartago wil be open to accept payments, forcing gasoline station owners to carry large amounts of cash across the country, in some cases, exposing themselves to holds ups.

In a letter to William Ulate, manager of Mercadeo y Distribución de Recope, the AEC's Leonel Buján, indicated that given the insecurity now in the country - last week a gasoline station owner was killed in a mid-day shootout in San Pedro when anti-socials tried to rob the man on the way to the bank to make a deposit - the situation could lead to catastrophic consequences and is asking Recope to find a quick solution to avoid exposure to thieves.

One solution offered by Buján is that Recope temporarily accept cheques.

Eugenio Villegas, director of Servicio al Cliente de Recope (customer service), said that the problem is being caused by the national banks who are not willing to provide additional mobile services.

Villegas added that Recope doesn't have the necessary security infrastructure for his people to accept cash payments on delivery and cheques are out due to a high number of returns for insufficient funds.

Villegas suggested that gasoline station owners use a credit or debit card to make their purchase or go online, using the banks internet banking services to transfer funds to Recope account.

Of course that can present a problem for some gasoline station owners who don't have sufficient funds in their account or credit card limits to avail of that option.

Recope plants will be closed on Thursday, and Friday of this week and next Monday.