Chip-and-pin and additional functionality is being added to the Allstar fuel card in an effort to make it a ‘total payment solution’ for fleets.

The roll-out of the new, more secure cards, which will be embedded with chip-and-pin technology, will begin later this month.

However, with 1.1 million cardholders, Allstar’s parent company Fleetcor assured Fleet News that the roll-out would be carefully undertaken. The switch will be gradual, on a customer-by-customer basis, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

“Physically you cannot do it one go, nor would you want  to from a customer’s perspective,” said Peter Bridgen, managing director of Fleetcor’s fuel card operation.

“It’s a change for us, it’s a change for the customer and it’s a change for the network, so you’ve got to make sure it’s done as seamlessly as possible.”

Trials have already been successfully undertaken with a select few fleets and, while the fuel card giant admits the project has had its challenges, Bridgen declared: “We’re there now.”

Fleetcor’s acquisition of Allstar in 2011, part-way through the project, had seen the introduction of chip-and-pin delayed. Bridgen explained: “We wanted to ensure that the technology was more relevant to our future.”

And Fleetcor’s immediate future involves allowing its fuel card to be used to pay for a portfolio of products and services, in addition to fuel.

Customers can already use their card to pay for glass, tyres and the M6 toll, but now the fuel card company will be adding service, maintenance and repair from April 23.

It is promising discounts of up to 20%, depending on the level of labour or parts involved, compared with the retail cost of the work.

The new service is primarily aimed at small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), because larger fleets typically have SMR bolted on to their leasing costs.

Bridgen said: “We’re not interested in the part of the market that is already being catered for by leasing companies. This is particularly for those SMEs that do not have maintenance agreements.”

The network of garages and service centres where the Allstar fuel card can be used to pay for SMR costs will start at around 4,000, but it is expected to grow to 9,000 before the end of the year. That’s just over 50% of the UK’s existing network and, according to Bridgen, will consist of dealerships and independents.

“We would hope that customers wouldn’t have to change their habits in any way,” he said. “They can carry on going to the same service centres, but they will be able to pay using Allstar and they will get up to a 20% discount.”

Allstar says the new service will provide fleet managers with simplified administration and increased cost control, as they will be able to manage both their fuel and maintenance costs in a combined Allstar/HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)-approved VAT invoice.

Take-up is expected to be good considering the fact that Allstar has some 35,000 customers, with the majority classed as SMEs, controlling around 250,000 vehicles.

“This is a ground-breaking service,” said Bridgen. “Where Allstar has the biggest and most convenient site network in the UK, we’re now going to add 9,000 service, maintenance and repair sites. It is another step towards making Fleetcor, and the Allstar fuel card, a total payment solution.”

Bridgen told Fleet News that the acquisition of technology company Epyx, which is heavily involved in the automotive sector, had helped develop the SMR offering.

Its understanding of the sector proved invaluable and Bridgen expects to readily tap into all of Fleetcor’s UK companies – including telematics company Masternaut, in which it recently acquired a 45% stake – to grow its existing suite of products.

Bridgen concluded: “We have introduced, and we will continue to introduce, new products and services, new types of card and new integration with our UK partners.

“We want to organically grow our business and we know the right way to do that is to offer the right level of service and product that customers absolutely want and need.”

 

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