Getting a Fuel Card for Your Small Business in the UK

Fuel cards give you a load of benefits at the pump, helping you earn rewards on your fuel spend which can translate into future savings.

12:16 16 December 2019

Sure, that’s an attractive proposition but there are a few things that you might need to mull over before putting down your name for a new fuel card in the UK.

As a small business owner, fuel cards might be totally worthwhile for you. Let’s take a brief look at some key benefits and other things that you need to be cautious about, so you can see for yourself what a card like this can mean to your business.

First, let’s look at some of the key benefits of getting a fuel card for your fleet.

Fuel cards are a great way to save money on the forecourt. They are essentially a commitment to just buy fuel from major fuel providers at better prices. Although, a saving of say a couple of pence per litre, which is the bog standard, don’t seem too compelling on the face of it, it all adds up when you put together the total litres of fuel consumed by your whole feet over a period of time.

Fuel cards not just make it easy and efficient to pay at the pumps, they bring your small business more benefits.

Scoop Up Rewards: Fuel cards make a lot more sense to businesses that buy a lot of fuel every month.Fuel cards offering volume discounts can help you get sizeable savings on fuel spends. Having said that, some cards offer tiered programs, which means that the more fuel you end up buying every month, the more your savings.

Invoicing made simple: With a fuel card, you don’t have to sift through all the different invoices from different drivers of your fleet for the fuel they fill on your behalf. Having a fuel card means getting a single invoice for a particular billing period that encompasses all the fuel spends made by your drivers.

More Control over your Fleet: In addition, they let you keep tabs on the fleet, particularly where they’re spending and how much. Fuel card providers are happy to dole out information on the exact location and fuel spend of your each and every driver in your fleet. That’s giving you control over your fleet. With reports like that, which go into the details of where and when your fuel cards were used, you can get a very clear idea of fuel spend and efficiency over any time range. And, that’s invaluable for any small business owner.

Now, let’s hop over and look at some key things that you need to consider before you go searching for the right fuel card for you.

Fees and Interest Rates: Fuel cards that offer rewards come with a higher fee mainly for the option to be able to earn points, and for all the other added perks. And, if you’re someone who generally likes to carry an outstanding balance, the higher interest rates of some of these fuel cards might be a potential problem for you.

Cap on Reward Points: There’s a cap on the points you can earn for a particular period. So when you’ve hit the monthly limit imposed on the points you can accrue, any additional expenditure on fuel won’t count towards your reward points.

Program Partners: Go for a card that has partnered with fuel providers you’ll be happy to fill up at or with supermarkets that you like shopping at.

To conclude, fuel cards could be extremely beneficial to your business, provided you know its pros and cons and understand how to make full use of it.

Is finding the right fuel card for your business boggling your mind? Help is on hand. iCompario has put together a helpful website for small business owners like you to navigate your way through all the rigmarole that finding the right card entails. Make sure you head over to the website, read through all the latest guides comparing different cards on the market, and consider everything before you put down your signature on the dotted line.