What Is the Southcom Air VA Charge on Your Statement?

A “CTLP* Southcom Air” charge on your bank or credit card statement is a payment for using a self-service tire-air machine at a gas station. The Southcom Air charge on your statement identifies two things at once: “Southcom Air” is the air-machine operator, and “CTLP” is the ticker symbol for Cantaloupe, Inc., the cashless payment processor that ran the card transaction.¹ The amount is usually small, often around $1.50 to $2.00, though consumers have reported charges as high as $15.00.² If it looks unfamiliar, think back to whether you swiped or tapped a card at an air kiosk during a recent fill-up.

Where the Charge Comes From

Cantaloupe provides digital payment technology for self-service and unattended retail equipment, including vending machines, kiosks, and air pumps.¹ When you tap a card at a Southcom-branded air machine, Cantaloupe processes the transaction, so its ticker symbol appears on your statement instead of the gas station’s name.

Consumer reports tie the descriptor to air machines at gas stations such as Weigel’s, a convenience store chain in eastern Tennessee, which is why many statements show a “KNOXVILLE TN US” location tag next to the charge.² Cantaloupe entered the air-machine space through a 2019 supply agreement with CSC ServiceWorks to equip machines with its ePort Connect cashless technology.³

How It May Appear on Your Statement

Banks format the same transaction in different ways depending on the card and how the purchase posted. Common variations include:

CHKCARD or CHECKCARD CTLP* Southcom Air, common with Visa debit cards.
POS Debit or POS Purchase CTLP* Southcom Air, the standard point-of-sale debit format.
PRE-AUTH or PENDING CTLP* Southcom Air, a temporary authorization hold before the final charge posts.

All point to the same underlying transaction: a card payment at a Southcom-branded air machine processed by Cantaloupe.²

One quirk to know about: gas station payment terminals, including air machines, sometimes place a temporary hold on your card that is larger than the actual purchase. These holds can sit on your account for up to 72 hours and may appear alongside the final charge, making it look like you were billed twice. When the transaction settles, the hold drops off and only the real amount remains.⁴

When to Be Concerned

The most common complaint is not fraud, but machines that take a payment and never dispense air. One consumer reported a $15.00 charge at a station air machine that failed due to a machine error; voicemails left at the number posted on the machine were not returned.² Paying for a service that was never delivered is a legitimate reason to dispute the charge with your bank.

If you truly don’t recognize the transaction and no one who uses your card stopped for gas recently, treat it as a possible unauthorized charge and move quickly. The dispute rules below are time-sensitive.

How to Dispute a Southcom Air Charge

Your options depend on the type of card that was used.

Credit Card Charges

The Federal Trade Commission advises contacting your card issuer within 60 calendar days of the statement date on which the charge first appeared. A phone call to the number on the back of your card is the fastest first step, but following up with a written dispute letter sent to the billing-inquiry address (not the payment address) preserves your full legal protections. Include your name, account number, the amount and date of the charge, and a brief explanation of why you’re disputing it.⁵

Debit Card Charges

Debit card timelines are tighter. If you report an unauthorized charge within 60 days of receiving the statement, your bank must investigate. The bank generally has 10 business days to look into the dispute and must issue a temporary credit if the investigation takes longer.⁶ Wait more than 60 days past the statement date and you risk being held responsible for the full amount of any unauthorized transactions that occurred after that window.⁷

Other Steps

For a malfunctioning machine, a chargeback through your bank is usually the most efficient route. You can also try the phone number posted on the air machine itself, though operator response has been unreliable in reported cases. If your bank does not resolve the issue satisfactorily, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at consumerfinance.gov/complaint.⁵

1
SEC. Cantaloupe Inc 10-K Filing
2
What’s That Charge. CTLP Southcom Air Knoxville TNUS
3
Cantaloupe, Inc. USA Technologies and CSC ServiceWorks Announce Supply Agreement
4
Current. Did the Gas Pump Take More Than You Paid For
5
Federal Trade Commission. Disputing Credit Card Charges
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Get My Money Back After I Discover an Unauthorized Transaction
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FDIC. What Should I Do if I Have Unauthorized Charges on My Debit Card