Business Briefs: Gas prices drop 5.2 cents a gallon

January 13, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. | Updated January 14, 2020 at 1:25 p.m.

by Staff and Wire Reports

In this April 25, 2018, file photo, attendees visit the Ford booth during Auto China 2018 show held in Beijing, China. China's government says it will postpone planned punitive tariffs on U.S.-made automobiles and other goods following an interim trade deal with Washington.Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019's announcement came after Washington agreed to postpone a planned tariff hike on $160 billion of Chinese goods and to cut in half penalties that already were imposed. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
In this April 25, 2018, file photo, attendees visit the Ford booth during Auto China 2018 show held in Beijing, China. China's government says it will postpone planned punitive tariffs on U.S.-made automobiles and other goods following an interim trade deal with Washington.Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019's announcement came after Washington agreed to postpone a planned tariff hike on $160 billion of Chinese goods and to cut in half penalties that already were imposed. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Southeast Tennessee no longer boasts the cheapest gas in the Southeast as it did at the start of 2020, but the average price of regular gas still fell in the past week as concerns about a war with Iran eased and oil markets retreated.

Chattanooga gas prices dropped an average 5.2 cents per gallon in the past week, reversing most of the 7-cents per gallon jump in the previous week as the new year began, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 170 stations.

The average price of a gallon of regular fuel in Chattanooga fell Monday to $2.24 a gallon, or 55 cents a gallon below the U.S. average of $2.79 a gallon. That was still a dime a gallon higher than a week ago when some stations began 2020 with gas selling below $2 a gallon.

Across Tennessee, five stations in Cleveland, Tennesssee were among the cheapest stations with regular gas selling at $2.09 a gallon. But gas was selling even cheaper in Louisianna at $2.03 a gallon and in Arkansas at $2.06 a gallon today, according to GasBuddy.com

"With Iran and the United States de-escalating rising tensions last week, oil prices plummeted back under $60 per barrel, a welcome sign for motorists who had believed gas prices were about to shoot up," said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. "For now, the reduced tensions may lead gas prices to again begin falling in most states over the next few weeks before seasonal factors then again push prices back up."

Visa buys Plaid for $5.3 billion

Visa is purchasing the financial technology company Plaid for $5.3 billion, a major push by the payment processor into other types of money transfer systems outside of credit and debit cards.

Plaid allows consumers to connect their bank accounts to other types of financial services apps like Venmo, PayPal, Betterment and Transferwise. Its an important but relatively unknown middle man between the banks, who hold consumers's cash, and the platforms who help send that money.

The Monday announcement is Visa's first big push into a product that isn't just credit and debits cards. Visa is the world's largest payment processing company, but it makes almost entirely all of its money from swipe fees it earns from merchants whenever its cards are accepted.

Upcoming Events