Fuel cards can be used by businesses of all sizes but, with so many options and services to choose from, understanding which fuel card is right for your business can feel daunting. This complete fuel card guide for business covers everything you need to know, including how to use a fuel card, fuel card benefits you can enjoy, how the application process works and how to manage your fuel cards with ease.
All of your unanswered questions will be addressed as we provide you with a better understanding of fuel cards and how to use them – so you can make the right choice for your business. See our full fuel card guide below for more information.
So, let’s start at the very beginning. A fuel card is an alternative form of fuel payment for businesses. It allows drivers to purchase fuel for business vehicles on a card linked to an account which can monitor activity and spending. Fuels cards are registered to a specific network of fuel stations. For example, some cards are linked to specific brands, some are a mixture of different brands, and some offer discounts based on fuel type or at specific stations.
For example, both the UK Fuels Fuel Card and the Fuelmate Supermarket Fuel Card are accepted at Morrisons and Tesco fuel sites. However, the UK Fuels card also has access to over 1,600 core Shell motorway fuel sites, designed specifically for higher canopy vehicles, making this fuel card suitable for fleets made up of vehicles of any size. The Fuelmate Supermarket Fuel Card has access to up to 1,200 nationwide supermarket sites but no core sites, and offers other perks such as supermarket reward points, therefore are more suitable for vehicles who don’t use the motorways as much.
Fuel cards are only to be used for fuel-related products so, as well as limiting expenses, they also allow you to track spend and file business expenses much more efficiently. It’s important to remember that there isn’t one single perfect fuel card for every type of business. Each fuel card account is tailored to a company and cards are picked for every business on a case-by-case basis. In order to identify the best performing fuel cards for your particular business, comparison tools are a great way to get a feel for what is suitable for your company’s needs.
A common request from many businesses is the need for multiple cards, in fact, most accounts in our experience have at least 10 to 20 fuel cards. Fuel card accounts can be made up of one type of fuel card or a variety of different cards, some assigned to individual drivers, some assigned to vehicles and some assigned to fleets. Again, this depends entirely on your business and what works for you.
Using a business fuel card is a really easy process. The driver filling up simply presents the fuel card when paying for the fuel and utilises chip and PIN. Drivers can still get a receipt if they wish to, but it isn’t necessary for business expense purposes as all transactions will be shown on the fuel card invoice from your fuel card provider. This is a small but effective way for businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.
The only potential obstacle is when payment is declined. Here are a number of reasons why your fuel card may be declined:
If there are any situations where payment isn’t accepted, simply call your fuel card provider and as part of their service they should be able to detect the reason for the fault and come up with a solution to get you back on the road again.
Fuel fraud is very rare when using fuel cards as, alongside the Chip and PIN function, your company is notified immediately if a suspicious payment has been made. In addition, as a business you can track every transaction made through an online system, making checking for unusual activity straightforward and fast.
The majority of fuel cards only allow you to purchase fuel and, in some cases, fuel-related products. However, hot drinks and food (the most asked about products) aren’t included in this allowance. There are a few exceptions to the rule, for example, the Fuelmate Supermarket Fuel Card also includes car washes in their fuel card benefits.
Employees are to only use a fuel card for business purposes, such as long haul delivery journeys or other work-related trips. If an employee were to use a fuel card to fill up an unregistered vehicle for personal use, they would have to pay tax. However, if employees were to use their own vehicle for approved work journeys, they should be able to claim tax relief on the approved mileage rate.
The best thing about fuel cards is that they’re constantly developing and becoming more and more customised. If there’s a demand for more to be included in terms of benefits for particular cards, then those cards will eventually evolve to meet those needs for businesses.
Fuel cards can be used by businesses of all types and sizes. Fuelmate offer the following business fuel cards:
Who Can Use a Fuel Card Within the Business?
Individuals within a business can have a fuel card assigned to them by the company so that the company pays for their fuel. Fuel cards can also be assigned to particular vehicles, rather than the individual driving them, which is particularly useful if multiple drivers drive multiple vehicles within a company. However, fuel cards have to be registered to a specific company and, therefore, can’t be used by private motorists at present.
Fuel cards are designed to be different and provide different fuel networks and benefits for different businesses. All fuel cards are accessible to all businesses however, based on the types of vehicles, type of fuel, fuel consumption and access routes used by your drivers, some will be more beneficial to your company than others. This is why it’s best to compare fuel cards to find the right fit for your business.
For example, Fuelmate’s recommended fuel cards for fleets are all specifically chosen as we have found they are most beneficial for companies with a large fleet consisting of cars, vans, HGVs and other large vehicles. With these cards, it’s easier to record, measure and control fuel usage for a large group of vehicles. Managing a large fleet of vehicles can be challenging, which is why these chosen fuel cards are so effective for fleet managers in particular as they reduce admin time and provide essential data required to make your fleet more efficient. Many of these types of fuel cards offer fixed weekly prices on fuel and host many other benefits, depending on which network of stations the cards work with.
A different example is a Keyfuels Fuel Card, which has access to more than 2,000 multi-branded fuel sites nationwide and offers a fixed price on diesel fuel at these sites.
Alternatively, if the drivers in your company operate more locally, the Fuelmate Supermarket Fuel Card could be a great option for you, due to these sites often being more convenient for drivers who operate locally. This means they don’t have to drive to remote stations, which would divert them majorly from their designated route.
There are numerous different options when it comes to fuel cards, including fuel cards for particular fuel stations or brands, as well as branded cards with access to other networks and those that offer maximum coverage. There are fuel cards better suited based on vehicle type and the type of fuel needed, with options benefiting a combination of these, if your drivers switch between using both unleaded and diesel vehicles. Some fuel cards are more beneficial for smaller vehicles, some for larger, and others a combination of both.
As you can see, the combinations really are endless, which explains why the majority of fuel card accounts use multiple types of fuel cards to suit different companies’ needs, fleets and drivers within the business.
Services Provided by Fuel Card Companies
Those who offer fuel card services normally have a range of fuel cards, including fleet and supermarket fuel cards. The exact cards offered will vary from company to company, as will the networks included within them and the benefits too. For example, a BP fuel card from one fuel card provider may incur different pricing rules and surcharges at the pump, compared with a BP fuel card from a different fuel card provider. Therefore, choosing the correct fuel card with the best price and benefits for your company requires some research and discussion with an expert. When undertaking any research, we recommend approaching providers that offer specialist advice and consultations to help you find the right card for you.
As part of the fuel card service, you should get support managing your account from the company you have the account with. There are often varying levels of support on offer which can include help with making any changes that may occur and provide invoicing in line with HMRC requirements to save you all-important admin time. In addition, the provider should be your first port of call when any unexpected issues occur. For example, if your driver is unsure where they can fill up using their fuel card, they should be able to access an online portal or call a helpline which directs them to the nearest available station in their card’s network. You should always be able to contact the fuel card provider directly for assistance and guidance in any capacity as part of the fuel card service.
There are a number of useful benefits that come with using fuel cards within a business. Many of these benefits can help the day-to-day running of a company, which is why fuel cards are the preferable option compared with regular debit cards, credit cards or cash.
The benefits of each fuel card vary depending on the card you’re using and its network of fuelling stations. However, here are the key benefits of using fuel cards for businesses.
Depending on the size of your fleet, using fuel cards could help your business save a substantial amount of money via fuel price discounts based on usage. Fuel cards offer fixed weekly prices making it easy to manage your costs and see where your fuel spend is highest.
One of the main perks of a fuel card, which can have a positive impact on helping a business run more efficiently, is the reduction of administrative time and resources. Even if you have a small business, fleet management and admin time can make up a large section of someone’s day-to-day work and use a lot of valuable resources in the process. Fuel cards make this process easier with an online dashboard that tracks all of your costs across your fleet.
Whether you have a small or large business, using a fuel card means just the company is invoiced and one single payment is required. Not only that, but the confusion, worry and pressure that surrounds staff having to pay and keep their receipts after purchase is completely erased. When it comes to invoicing, everything should be tracked via the fuel card provider’s website and all invoicing will be produced in line with HMRC standards, making things even easier for you.
Many fuel cards have purchase restrictions and because drivers have individually assigned cards, they don’t have to carry cash on them, meaning fuel cards are a much safer method than regular credit or debit cards for employees.
If you want to learn more about the differences between fuel cards and credit cards, have a read of our helpful blog post.
Company fuel cards can benefit both employees and employers and they’re often not mutually exclusive.
For employees using fuel cards, the biggest benefit is often that they’re no longer responsible for their own company expenses. This means they don’t have to save receipts, log mileage or fill out long and time-consuming expenses forms. Furthermore, there are other ways in which a fuel card can appear as a perk or incentive to some employees. For example, if an employee has a set usage of fuel per month and has a company car which is used for personal use, if they’re under the usage occasionally, the company may allow them to use the fuel to the limit. As cards can be assigned to vehicles, individuals or both, it can also give drivers an extra sense of responsibility and help them develop leadership qualities.
Little perks, conveniences and symbols of responsibility such as having a company fuel card assigned specifically to you, really can make a huge difference in how efficiently employees perform and also how they feel at work.
For business owners, fuel cards are used in order to save money on fuel costs meaning the business can run more efficiently overall. Although fuel cards give employees the freedom of not having to be so involved with expenses, they also give that benefit to owners and managers too. Fewer receipts equal less effort and hassle for both employees and employers, thus allowing business owners to focus on those all-important stats and metrics that are produced from fuel cards, helping them to understand patterns and improve business productivity levels.
For beginners, the prospect of setting up a fuel card may seem daunting. We’re here to assure you that fuel cards are designed to make your life easier! As we’ve outlined, fuel cards have many benefits, from improved reporting, improved fleet efficiency, lower prices and extra security. Read on to understand how to use a fuel card as a beginner.
If you are just getting started within the fleet industry, or you are a small business, you may question how does a fuel card work, and whether a fuel card is worth it for beginners. Especially if you only own one vehicle, you may wonder if a fuel card is necessary. Owning a fuel card makes good financial and logistical sense whether you operate one vehicle or 1000.
Businesses with mobile workforces face similar issues regarding day-to-day problems, from refuelling to reporting. Without a consistent financial system in place, you may miss out on reclaiming back VAT. Store all of your receipts within our fuel card management system to assist with company cash flow.
Additionally, oil price fluctuations can hit businesses hard, especially smaller businesses. Fuel cards offer access to discounted fuel and competitive business rates, therefore easing the strain of rising fuel prices and offering you extra security when needed.
As a fleet manager, you are expected to play many roles within a business. In addition to the main duties of buying and maintaining vehicles, fleet managers have a multitude of other responsibilities that can add up day-to-day. A well-managed fleet requires for logistics to be executed on time, savings to be made and ensuring fleet safety and compliance is met.
So, how can you use a fuel card as a fleet manager? Having a software to take the load off some of your responsibilities can help free up time that’s best spent elsewhere, such as expanding the business, harnessing great professional relationships, and nurturing the welfare of your fleet. A fuel card helps experienced fleet managers to:
Next in our fuel card guide, we’ll take a look at the numbers. In terms of the fuel card provider’s relationship with the fuel company, they buy their fuel in large bulk volumes from their various partners. As the fuel card providers get a generous discount from buying in such large quantities, they are able to pass this along to their customers, adding only a small mark-up so the transaction is financially viable as a business as well as beneficial to customers.
There are various industry fuel card fees you should be aware of before applying. First of all, there are hidden fees you need to look out for. The cost of setting up a fuel card and opening an account should be free of charge and the best fuel card providers won’t charge additional fees for applications, switching cards and making changes to accounts. However, some fuel card providers sadly do charge for these unadvertised extras, so it’s good to be aware of some of these hidden costs that occur if you don’t research and pick the best provider. Below, is a list of the types of costs that some fuel card providers could attempt to charge you for:
Setup fees and initial fees, for merely wanting to apply for a fuel card, are an extra cost that not all companies charge. Some providers may advertise this cost as an extra admin fee, whilst charging you for your agreed and expected monthly account or admin fee alongside this. Any initial setup fees, no matter how they’re advertised, aren’t necessary for you to pay. If a provider is advertising this or has only made you aware of this at the eleventh hour, we would recommend looking elsewhere for a provider.
Now, let’s take a look at the fees you should expect to pay and why. Charging a percentage for an admin fee once you’ve received your cards is understandable if that provider is delivering account management or an effective admin or invoicing service per month. In addition, you can expect there to be a cost per physical card initially, which is, of course, covering the cost of making a card which is registered to a particular person or vehicle. Now, unless the card needs to be replaced due to loss, you shouldn’t be paying for anything more other than your admin or account management fee per card each month, which you should be made aware of from the start.
If you lose or damage your card, it’s most likely that you’ll have to pay to replace it, but be sure to check your policy on this just in case costs do already cover these circumstances. If you’ve received your fuel cards and, after a period of time, feel you need more, whether it be more of the same or additional cards on a different network, it should be an easy process for you to request more.
Most companies will have an online card management portal you can log in to in order to manage your card throughout the period of the account, allowing you to request more cards as well as checking your card networks and helping you locate the nearest stations. If your providers have advertised account support or management, you should be able to call someone within the accounts team who can then help you proceed with your request to add additional fuel cards to your account.
When it comes to applying for any type of fuel card, a credit check will be needed. There’s no need to be worried or put off by this, it’s just a basic credit rating check that would be carried out the same way if you were applying for a debit or credit card with a bank. Also, the credit rating is based against the fuel limit you’re asking for on your fuel cards, so this amount is always taken into consideration when credit checks are taking place.
Fuel card providers can do basic credit checks inhouse or they can also outsource this process. However, outsourcing is a longer process and could lead to delays from the third party. When completing fuel card credit checks, there are a number of risk factors that the provider will be looking out for. Some of the most common risk factors include:
Once credit checks are complete, the amount of credit given will be based on a number of different things, such as the duration of credit, your monthly spend and also invoice payment intervals.
When it comes to calculating fuel prices, every fuel company has a different national pump price. Fuel companies buy fuel via a wholesale market in large amounts, at discounted rates based on volume. The companies then add their own mark-up to these prices before selling it to the customer.
Although there isn’t a great deal of fluctuation between average pump rates between each company’s sites, there are a few things that can affect rates:
1. Location – Sometimes, sites in a remote location can have higher costs, due to delivery costs to their sites and lower purchase volumes.
2. Motorways – Unfortunately these inflated prices play into the fact that when you need fuel on the motorway, you don’t have many options.
3. Supermarkets – Although supermarket fuel prices don’t tend to be as inflated, as the economy decreases these costs will grow gradually.
When you decide that you want to apply for a fuel card after researching providers and comparing prices, you can do so in a number of ways. You can either call and speak to an expert directly, or most providers will allow you to fill out an online application too. Before you enquire, you may want to read our guide to the fuel card application process.
There are providers offering free consultations, giving you recommendations on which cards would benefit your company the most based on spend, location and budget. These providers offer an accurate and more in-depth insight after speaking with you and understanding your circumstances. We would highly recommend using providers like these for your fuel cards, as you will be safe in the knowledge that you’ll benefit the most from your accounts right from the start.
If you do decide to apply via the phone, the agent on the other side will most likely recommend fuel cards based on spend and location. They will then try to establish common routes made by yourself or your drivers, to ensure you’re applying for the most appropriate cards. Once the application process is complete, including credit checks, you should receive your cards within 10 to 14 days from the majority of fuel card providers.
If the process takes longer, this may be because the fuel card provider is waiting for the fuel company to provide them with the cards. For example, if you’re hoping to receive a Texaco fuel card, the provider will need to have the card sent from Texaco first and, although this transaction is included in the maximum 28-day turn around, you may have to be a little more patient than if you were receiving a card created by the fuel provider themselves.
There’s often a lot of confusion surrounding who can apply for a fuel card. As long as your business is a registered company, you can apply for a fuel card – the cards need to be registered against a company. You cannot apply for a fuel card for personal use.
Many people worry that because they’re self-employed or a sole trader, this also means that they won’t be eligible to apply for a fuel card. There is a misconception within the fuel card industry that providers prefer larger companies who will need more cards and have a bigger fuel spend budget. This isn’t true, as fuel card providers are happy to provide cards for a full range of business types and sizes, including sole traders, small businesses and new businesses.
When using your fuel card, it’s important to remember which card you have and which where your fuel card will be accepted. Some sites take multiple cards, for example, Morrisons’ fuelling stations take both UK Fuels cards and Fuelmate Supermarket fuel cards, however they wouldn’t accept a branded card such as a BP fuel card. Consider this before applying for your fuel card to make sure you’re getting a fuel card which you can get the most benefit from and that won’t confuse your drivers.
There are so many different cards with different networks for this exact reason, so that there’s something for every business. It may be the case that you need multiple cards, a different one for each of your drivers perhaps? That’s completely fine and encouraged by most providers, in order for each individual driver to have fewer problems navigating routes and making the whole process more convenient for them. If the card you have isn’t suited to your drivers or business model, that’s when confusion and other problems can occur, such as cards being declined.
To make life simple, we recommend using a garage locator tool that allows you to find fuel stations throughout the UK that are compatible with your fuel card. These apps should use GPS data so you can easily find directions to the nearest compatible fuel station.
As part of understanding how a fuel card works, you need to understand how a fuel card doesn’t work. If a fuel card does get declined, there isn’t anything to worry about as in most cases, there’s an easy fix available. Earlier, we briefly mentioned a few examples of why fuel cards could get declined, however, there are a number of other reasons why a fuel card may be declined at fuelling station, including:
As part of a provider’s account management service, they’ll be able to help you as best they can to try and get you back on the road as quickly as possible.
However, there’s also the possibility that a card could be declined due to the fact there is a substantially overdue invoice for the fuel card. Each fuel card provider’s policy will vary on whether to freeze a card or not if an invoice isn’t paid, and the duration of time they’re prepared to wait before they implement this. Make sure you check the fuel card provider policy in order to understand the course of action they’ll be taking, should this occur.
If the reason a card has been declined is due to using the wrong fuelling site not associated with your fuel card’s network, there are a few ways you can ensure this doesn’t happen again. As part of a provider’s account management programme, there should be a number of easily accessible tools and methods your drivers can use to access the information of where they can fill up based on the network their fuel card has available to them. For example, the Fuelmate Garage Locator is easily accessible as it’s displayed clearly on the website and makes finding your nearest fuel station where your card will be accepted, simple to locate.
For those employees who are not a fan of using apps and online-based resources, your fuel card provider should supply you with alternative options. Satellite navigation map downloads are a clear and easy way for fuelling sites in your network to be highlighted to a driver offline. They can locate them via the online map and then download as a physical map of their own, prior to their journeys in a way that makes sense to them. Whichever methods work best for your drivers are recommended.
Now that you know how a fuel card works and the different cards available to your business, you may be wondering how to review fuel card usage. As part of an account management service, your fuel card provider is able to supply you with some relevant metrics and analytics in regards to the activity on each fuel card.
When you receive your invoice, you can use this as a way to track overall spend and see if fluctuation has happened within the time period of your previous invoice, clearly and easily.
An online portal is generally the best place to manage your fuel cards, review mileage, cost and routes for individual drivers as well as for your whole fleet. Once you’re aware of habits and trends, you can then change and trial different routes or even different fuel cards, in order to ensure the business is running in the most efficient way possible.
If you’re ever confused or want to query any metrics, just call your provider and discuss it with them. If they’re offering an account management service, they should be more than happy to help and give you the answers and advice you may need.
So, now we have discussed what fuel cards are, their benefits, how fuel cards work, the application process and also fuel card management, we hope you have a better understanding of fuel cards for businesses. The most important things to remember when it comes to fuel cards are:
If you want to know more about Fuelmate as a fuel card provider, browse our website and the different fuel cards we have available. Or, if you have any questions regarding fuel cards after reading our informative fuel card guide, please feel free to contact us.
As a leading fuel card provider, we’re happy to answer any questions you may have or if you want to discuss anything in further detail with us, we’d love to help.
.jpg)
