Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are planning a raft of changes to rules for gas stations to allow larger transactions after a surge in fuel prices across the U.S. made it hard for some drivers to fill up using credit cards.

Gas stations around the United States are rushing to upgrade fuel pumps to accept credit and debit cards with chips after Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. rejected a request to delay a looming deadline to complete the work.