According to Statista, the fuel card market was worth approximately $ 595.72 billion and it is expected to grow up to $ 842.41 billion by 2023. If you own a fleet of vehicles, you might have been drawn to the idea of getting a fuel card. However, you might still be uncertain about it as you are still not yet sure about how it works. Here is some information about these cards and how they work.
Choose a company
There are many fuel card companies. Therefore, you have to choose one. Do your research so as to help you make a good decision. You want a card from a reliable company that will be able to support your operations.
Once you have made your selection, you can make an application for the card. You can do this online. Once your application is accepted, an account will be opened for your company. You can have as many fuel cards as you need for your company. All these cards will be reflected in your account.
Each of these cards will then be assigned to a specific driver or to a particular vehicle.
The card
In some cases, the company name and the registration number of the vehicle is printed on the fleet fuel cards. In other cases, it is the brand name of the company that provides the card that gets printed on the card.
On the reverse side of the card, there is a magnetic strip. The work of this strip is to capture information on the card about how it is being used. The user of the card will be given a PIN. This gives only them the authority to use the card.
Using the card
It is quite easy to use the cards. They work in the same way that credit cards work. Once you have filled up your vehicle, you hand over the card when it comes to making payment. To use the card, you have to go to a gas station that accepts the kind of cards that you have.
When you want to fuel, the fuelling station will check the name of the company and the registration number of the vehicle and signature on the card before allowing drivers to fuel. This helps to enhance security.
Reports
You can view reports on how the card was used online. These reports are easy to read. All the transactions that are done on a card are consolidated and sent in an invoice. Therefore, you will be able to see all the purchases that were made on the card. This will save you the trouble of having to keep receipts.
You can then use the information to analyze the efficiency of fuel use and the behavior of the driver.
Conclusion
Using fuel cards will help to minimize fraud among drivers. It will also minimize cases of funds meant for fuel being misused. Managing fleet fuel is an important business for a fleet manager.
