Dubbed Fuel+, the new fuel card has already been piloted with 30 corporate clients including supermarket brand Morrisons, which saw a £700,000 reduction in its like-for-like fuel spend in its first year with Fuel+. The fuel card is now being made available to all organisations with large vehicle fleets (with a fuel spend of more than £500k) and there are plans to roll it out to smaller fleets in due course.
Fuel+ combines a fuel expenses Barclaycard with a mileage capture and audit system, developed by TMC.
The Fuel+ Barclaycard, with global Visa acceptance, allows drivers to refuel at almost all petrol forecourts in the UK while the TMC mileage system gives fleet managers complete visibility of their staff’s fuel spend and reduces costs by streamlining and automating processes.
The mileage capture and audit system works by enabling drivers to log their business mileage simply online, over the phone or via text. Companies can also opt to use the TMC Mileage App, which allows drivers to utilise the GPS tracking in their smartphone, letting them log their miles on the go. The system then analyses all relevant data including card purchases, mileage stats, distance travelled and even vehicle-specific tank capacity. It can identify any irregular patterns of spend, significantly reducing over-claims. It also helps ensure accurate VAT recovery, making it simple and easy to reclaim without the need for driver receipts.
Alejandro Stein, managing director of Barclaycard Global Commercial Payments, said: ‘Fuel costs are a significant and rising cost for many businesses and can be complex and time consuming to manage. Fuel+ will help to make things much simpler for both drivers and fleet managers and could help businesses cut, on average, a quarter off their business fuel costs.
‘Fuel+ Barclaycards, with chip & PIN security, allow drivers to use almost all filling stations in the UK, including pay-at-the pump sites, meaning drivers don’t have to plan ahead when thinking about re-fuelling. While fleet managers will find managing fuel costs much more straight-forward through the audit and reporting capabilities.’
Paul Jackson, MD of TMC, added: 'Fuel+ is a game-changer for fleets. For the last 30 years, the Allstar fuel card has been the only choice available to fleets that need a national, multi-brand fuel card. Now there is an alternative with state-of-the-art corporate procurement capability and integrated, audited, mileage capture and expense processing.'
Commenting on the differences between Fuel+ and Allstar, he added: 'Fuel+ gives customers access to the biggest fuel network. It is accepted at nearly 99% of UK petrol stations. Drivers can also use the card at unmanned pumps that don't accept non-chip and PIN fuel cards.star levies a £2 transaction charge every time a driver uses their card, which is equivalent to adding 4p to 5p to the price of every litre the driver puts into the tank. Fuel+ customers don't pay transaction charges.'