Using fuel cards to manage fuel expenditure often makes great business sense. It provides a way for drivers to pay for fuel using a company issued fuel cards, eliminating the complication of expense claims while avoiding the risk of giving out company debit or credit cards.
The administrative side of things is streamlined when using a fuel card scheme like fuelGenie, which provides single HMRC-approved invoices for easy accounting and VAT reclaim. Administrators can also keep track of driver cards, spending and credit limits using the online account management system.
Watch out for annual fees
While some fuel cards, like fuelGenie, charge no annual fees, others do, increasing the cost of participating for companies and impacting the bottom line. To get the maximum benefits of using fuel cards, be sure to choose a fuel card with no annual charges to pay.
How much can some fuel card companies charge?
There is a range of fuel cards on the market, many of which charge an annual fee per card. This can typically cost around the £20 mark.
For a small business with five drivers on the scheme, for example, this translates into an extra £100 on top of the costs of the fuel itself. For a larger fleet with, for example, 100 vehicles operated by drivers using the fuel cards, this means paying out an extra £2000, which you could easily spend more wisely elsewhere.
Why do some fuel cards charge an annual fee?
There is a wide variety of common justifications given for charging companies annual fees for fuel cards. These range from administrative expenses to cost of production. However, not every fuel card provider will charge your business for using fuel cards. fuelGenie customers don’t pay annual fees at all. In fact the fuelGenie fuel cards are completely free to join and use.
Are there any other fuel card fees to consider?
As well as annual fuel card fees, there is a whole range of other additional fees to watch out for when choosing a fuel card provider. These include network service fee, convenience charges, copy invoice charges and risk-based fees.
On top of these, there may be charges for replacing lost cards and changing company details. The combined additional burden of these extra fees can approach £200 or more, per card issued. The bigger the fleet, the harder the hit. Find more details on the extra fees charged by some fuel card companies here.
