For many fleets, the primary purpose of a fuel card has always been to ensure that drivers can fill-up at the best possible price in the most straightforward way.
But fuel card providers are now offering their customers an increasing range of add-on services.
Some are working with third parties to provide card holders with either ease of payment or best value when it comes to costs linked to tolls, hotels and service, maintenance and repair (SMR), among other options.
In short, many see their future role to be that of a ‘mobility service provider’, rather than simply a conduit for fuel payments.
Paul Jackson, managing director of fuel card and mileage expense management company The Miles Consultancy (TMC), places the rapid evolution of fuel cards’ add-on functions in context.
“From my perspective, there are two angles when it comes to the added value fuel cards are now providing,” he says.
“One is undoubtedly enabling drivers to pay for more things with the fuel card such as tolls, hotels and tyres.
“The other is the next logical step: enhancing businesses’ capacity to manage their all-round mobility costs by linking purchase data to other information, such as mileage, destinations, sales and service.”
Peter Bridgen, managing director at Allstar, sees an important shift taking place.
“While fuel site network size is still a critical factor in the decision-making process for most fleets, there’s no doubt that there has been a shift in recent years where businesses and fleet managers want more from their fuel cards,” he says.
“Just like in other industries, the fleet and fuel card market is evolving at a rapid rate. It can allow specified non-fuel purchases or it can be locked down to fuel and lubricants only.
“So fleets can optionally provide drivers with more convenience without surrendering control over what they can buy with the cards. From a procurement perspective, added-value fuel cards address the issue of what employees can buy while travelling.
“But from the fleet and financial management perspective, the key questions are where, when and why. Unless you can capture that data you are unable to use it to drive value for the business.”
Jenny Powley, sales director of corporate business at RAC Business, agrees that while the evolving functionality of fuel cards “undoubtedly” brings benefits to fleet managers, their primary function – as a means to manage fuel consumption – should not be overlooked.
“Fuel cards are an efficient and money-saving way of managing the cost of a fleet,” she says.
“They save on admin costs and time, while also controlling where drivers are able to fill up.
“But the humble fuel card is changing and fleet managers are now able to get a number of other value added services.
“Our RAC Business Club, for instance, is a free fuel management tool that’s available to fuel card customers.
“It’s an online portal that allows fleet managers to log important details about vehicles and drivers, helping them keep track of servicing information, MOTs and tax.”
Powley adds that the RAC Business Club fuel card also offers members exclusive leasing deals with Lex Autolease and discounts on motoring related products at the RAC online shop.
Bridgen says Allstar has partnered with National Windscreens to offer glass repair and replacement, and has also teamed up with The AA and ATS Euromaster to offer national breakdown assistance and tyre replacement services.
“In addition to these business partnerships, it’s also now possible to make M6 toll payments on our fuel cards,” he adds.
“Another groundbreaking solution that is now making a significant impact to our customers’ bottom line is our recently launched SMR offering, as an additional service.
“With SMR, customers simply use their Allstar card to pay for their vehicle servicing, which can be used at more than 9,000 garages nationwide.
“They can save up to 20% off the retail price depending on the level of labour or parts involved.”
When the SMR services were added in April, Bridgen expected take-up to be good among Allstar’s 35,000 customers, but no figures are available at the moment.
“Along with the cost savings, these added value services are designed to reduce valuable admin time and the hassle of pay and reclaim for drivers,” says Bridgen.
“All services paid for on your card are itemised on Allstar’s consolidated HMRC -approved invoice.”
Mileage capture as part of a ‘consolidated’ mix is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon.
Earlier this year, BP Fuel Cards added a mileage capture system to its card which uses GPS technology to track a journey’s start and finish points to within a few metres.
Drivers simply plug in the GPS dongle to their car or van’s cigarette lighter or USB socket and, once their shift concludes, they can upload and log a full record of their journey.
“The mileage capture system makes life much easier for our fuel card customers,” says BP fuel cards marketing manager James Fields-Davis.
“The system simultaneously saves drivers’ and managers’ time by reducing the need to manually complete and check journey records.”
“It gives customers more control over their costs and is a more tax-efficient means of running driver schemes because it helps show HMRC compliance and it’s easy to implement.”
The Barclaycard Fuel+ card also includes a sophisticated mileage capture and audit system.
“These features can help fleet managers track drivers’ habits over time and also ensure business mileage is being logged accurately,” says John Bostock, account development director at Barclaycard.
“The technology means that it is easier to spot a potential over-claim, or identify maverick spend on an account where the card may have been stolen or misused.
“If required, the card can be blocked or cancelled straight away to prevent further misuse.”
TMC’s Jackson adds that fleets increasingly want the information that’s made available to be consolidated.
“They want us to combine data from telematics, expenses and non-fuel purchases made with fuel cards,” he says. “The level of information is immensely valuable to them, not only for managing current costs and activity but also when they are developing future strategies around mobility and sustainability.”
“Some companies just want a simple fuel card and that’s fine,” adds Bridgen. “But others are seeing the real cost and time saving benefits of using their fuel card as a mobility solution for these many additional services.”
CASE STUDY: AVONLINE AND FUELGENIE
Broadband to solar energy provider Avonline is actively monitoring the fuel efficiency of its fleet vehicles after introducing FuelGenie’s fuel card.
The Bristol-based business offers a diverse range of services nationally, from flooring to broadband and solar energy installation – and a lot more besides.
It recently introduced the FuelGenie fuel card across its fleet of 70 cars and vans and Alan Thatcher, Avonline’s fleet and facilities manager, has quickly realised the benefits of being able to monitor fuel data online through the customer portal.
“Through this regular analysis I can access mileage reports, track fuel spend and analyse company fuel wastage,” he says. “I can also monitor a vehicle’s performance based on fuel consumption, which is handy information when it comes to renewing.”
Claire Alderson, sales and marketing manager at FuelGenie, also sees benefits. “Fleet managers can use the data to advise the best route options, recommend cheaper places to fill up like supermarket forecourts as well as monitoring vehicle performance based on fuel consumption,” she says.
“This information can also help signal when fleet vehicles need replacing and highlight the best vehicle models based on fuel efficiency.”
CASE STUDY: CHIVAS BROTHERS AND BARCLAYCARD FUEL+
Drinks company Chivas Brothers recently rolled out the Barclaycard Fuel+ card to a group of its drivers across the UK.
The Scotch whisky and premium gin manufacturer wanted a supplier which would streamline its fuel expense process while providing greater convenience to drivers.
The card – powered by Visa – means that drivers are now never out of pocket while waiting to be reimbursed. Its chip and pin technology saves time as users can pay at the pump whenever possible.
Tristan Campbell, fleet adviser at Chivas, says that the card’s detailed tracking and reporting system has also brought additional benefits.
Instead of drivers paying for their fuel and claiming back the costs – as was previously the case – the system enables drivers’ work-related miles to be captured on their fuel cards.
This allows the company to deduct the correct amount from the drivers’ wages at the end of the month for the personal miles they have travelled.
As a consequence, Campbell has also noticed that drivers are now increasingly likely to shop around for best-value fuel.
“Barclaycard and TMC have enabled us to drive costs out of business travel and achieve more accurate and transparent reporting,” he says.
“Barclaycard Fuel+ has also brought with it a host of benefits for our drivers such as the chip and pin facility.”
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