There are many fuel cards available to businesses in the UK, it’s very important to make the right choice for your company, we take a look at the features and benefits and advise on how to select the best fuel card.
- Comparing fuel cards for UK businesses
- What to consider when comparing fuel cards
- More about choosing fuel cards
Comparing fuel cards for UK businesses
Fuel cards might appear on the surface to be very similar in the way that they operate and the benefits they provide to UK businesses. This isn’t the case as there are many fuel card options, each with a slightly different offer, cost and benefit. The way your business operates, the size of your fleet and type of vehicle will all impact on the best type of fuel card for your business. We take a look at the options available and how you can choose the most suitable UK fuel card for your business.
What to consider when comparing fuel cards
When looking at different fuel cards, there are a number of key factors to investigate:
- Costs of fuel
- Fuel card fees
- Administration and management
- Financial reporting
- Credit period
Costs of fuel
Supermarket petrol stations are on average over 3 pence per litre cheaper than the national average, which is why the fuelGenie fuel card focuses exclusively on these. By consistently directing drivers to lower cost petrol stations, businesses using fuelGenie can benefit from the lower pump price and keep fuel expenditure down.
Other cards may focus on a particular brand or chain of fuelling stations. The amount spent on fuel will vary, being dependent on the rises and falls in pricing at these different companies. Fuel prices also vary by region and location – motorway service stations tend to charge higher rates than in towns and cities.
Locating UK Eligible Petrol Stations
Finding a fuel card with a good network of eligible petrol stations can help drivers save time and money as they won’t need to go far out of their way to fill up. fuelGenie has over 1,370 petrol stations across the UK, so there is always a filling station nearby. The fuelGenie app shows drivers their nearest fuelGenie eligible petrol station and the prices of fuel at stations nearby and across the UK fuelGenie network. Find out more information on the fuelGenie app.
Fuel card fees
Many UK fuel cards charge a fee to companies for using them. These charges are on top of the costs of the fuel itself, which naturally varies depending on the companies and forecourts where the fuel cards can be used.
Additional fees charged by fuel card companies can include:
- Annual card charge
- Network service fee
- Replacement card charge
- Convenience charge
- Change of details fee
- Invoicing fee
- Direct debit administration fee
- Risk-based fee
For more details on these fees, visit fuel cards with no fees.
Unlike many UK fuel cards, fuelGenie charges no annual membership fee, no network service fee and no replacement card charge. In fact, the fuelGenie card is completely free to own and use normally, regardless of how many drivers and cards are required.
Administration and management
One of the key benefits of using a good fuel card is that it should make the process of administering and managing expenditure simple. Some fuel cards in the UK offer an online portal where you can manage your cards and check how much you have spent. fuelGenie includes a 24/7 online dashboard for keeping track of expenses, setting credit limits and viewing invoices.
Financial reporting
Even in a fleet of only one driver, it can be tricky to keep hold of every single receipt and get it to finance on time, every time, for reporting and accounts. As the number of drivers, trips and refuelling stops grows, relying on paper receipts becomes impractical and a real drag on business efficiency.
Fuel cards make management of business fuel much easier by providing one clear information stream for all fuel receipts, enabling businesses to easily identify when and where fuel is purchased.
Businesses using the fuelGenie fuel card benefit from automatically generated, HMRC-approved invoices with a comprehensive VAT breakdown, all accessible online.
Credit period
Fuel cards vary in the length of time allowed for businesses to repay the fuel charges built up by using the card. Credit periods available will vary however most provide sufficient cash flow benefits.
Choose fuelGenie for your UK fuel cards
fuelGenie is designed to help UK businesses manage their fuel expenditure both efficiently and cost-effectively. The low-cost fuel, lack of fees and long credit period make it economical and cash-flow friendly. Meanwhile, the online dashboard and HMRC-approved invoices make administration and operations a piece of cake. fuelGenie also offer an app which allows drivers to locate their closest petrol station and view the prices of fuel in their area, helping drivers save time by locating low priced filling stations in their area. Find out more the fuelGenie app.
If you are looking for more reasons to select fuelGenie as your fuel card provider take a look at all of the benefits of the fuelGenie fuel card. The fuelGenie application process is quick and easy to do online, if you’re ready to start saving start your application here.
