What benefits do fuel cards bring to a company?

Fuel expenses represent up to 30% of company vehicle usage costs. Benefits of fuel cards do not only include the discounts on pump prices which they sometimes come with: more importantly, they represent a precious tool to better control costs related to the management of a company fleet of vehicles, and to cut these costs thanks to better accounting management and to the pooling of services.

The main benefit of fuel cards is that they put an end to the need of collecting receipts and managing individual expense accounts, as they bring businesses a single invoice for all fuel expenses on a monthly basis. Ordering a fuel card also makes it possible to enjoy management tools such as an online account management platform, where account managers can manage every fuel card, track fuel expenses, and analyse fuel consumption.

Other benefits of fuel cards lie in the wide array of options and services. Some cards can be used to pay toll fees or certain taxes, other include car wash, emergency assistance service, and sometimes even insurance services.

Benefits of diesel cards or petrol cards are a matter of how much they they simplify administrative tasks, and how much time they save you. For instance, most fuel card providers do include a VAT reclaim service, which is especially appreciated in companies where business trips in foreign countries are commonplace. This normally generates an extremely heavy administrative and accounting burden.

CEOs will find that fuel cards bring massive benefits in terms of management and administration. Sure, pump price discounts do score high, but they do not represent the biggest share of benefits brought by fuel cards.

Finally, ordering a fuel card is nearly costless for businesses: most fuel cards are free and no subscription fees are charged, at least for the first year of subscription. And when subscription fees are charged, if they ever are, they do not amount to more than a few pounds per card, per year.