Reducing your costs is possible with fuel cards

Photo: peterfz30, Bigstock

The price of fuel is constantly changing, but it is one of the largest cost producers and fleet owners. Therefore, many companies are looking for specialized solutions that fit their business needs in order to reduce their costs in some way.

Fuel companies and distributors now offer tailor-made solutions that operators and business owners can get to help reduce costs – fuel cards or fleet cards

These cards can be used as another way of paying for petrol, diesel, fuels and other products offered by different service stations. Fuel/fleet cards can also be used to pay for vehicle maintenance and other charges, depending on the limitation set by the business manager or fleet owner.

It doesn’t seem to help much, but having fuel cards is more useful than one might think.

The advantages of using fuel cards:

expenditure control

Obtaining fuel cards can help reduce costs by giving operators control over the amount spent on fuel transactions. Fuel cards allow you to have tailor-made solutions to meet the different needs of your business. This setup also allows you to limit the type and amount you spend on each fuel card transaction.

Avoid cash costs for drivers

The use of fuel cards is not only beneficial for drivers, but also for operators/entrepreneurs. When drivers have fuel cards, operators don’t have to hand out money when they’re rolled out. Drivers do not need to carry sums of money to cover the amount of fuel they need.

Drivers don’t have to deal with receipts or ask for fees. Even if a driver loses his fuel card, he only needs to contact the manager/operator to have the card blocked or deactivated. Compared to a sum of money he can’t collect once it’s gone.

Discounts

More often than not, fuel card owners get special discounts when they use their cards. Business owners and operators with business cards are often the first to know when an offer is available at a particular service center. Local cards often do not charge a transaction fee and allow the owners to earn points and use them for other transactions.

Taxes and administrative costs

Another advantage of using fuel cards is that operators can choose their preferred payment method and send an invoice for each transaction or just one invoice. It also helps in reducing paperwork as all the details of the transaction are recorded on one receipt. Thus, reducing your accounting and administrative costs, and reducing the effort of filing taxes.

Safety and protection

Fuel card transactions are safer than cash transactions because the driver’s number is recorded each time the fuel card is used. Only administrators have access to all information entered into secure gas station portals. This also gives administrators access to other valuable information about various transactions and updates on fuel prices.

The use of fuel cards also helps detect and prevent identity theft as drivers are asked to provide additional details when the card is used in a transaction.

Ease

Since transportation is a competitive industry, it is important to make this type of transaction as easy and fast as possible. Most fuel cards function as prepaid cards that you can use for fully electronic transactions. such as loading money, settling transactions and verifying authenticity.

There are several fuel companies that offer fuel card or fleet card solutions to their business partners and customers. What business owners need to do is find a provider that can provide them with solutions that best suit their business.

Before getting these services, as a business owner or operator, you need to know how much the business spends on fuel transactions. This will help you determine the type of solution that best suits your needs.

Obtaining fuel cards or fleet cards can help reduce the company’s costs if used properly. Remember to only get what the business needs to make sure you don’t lose money on things that don’t help the business grow. The purpose of these services is to reduce costs to help the business grow, not the other way around.

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Shreya has been with australiabusinessblog.com for 3 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider australiabusinessblog.com, Shreya seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.