Uk Fuel Cards

[BennyC]

Hi,

My company has had fuel cards with Arval (Allstar) since April last year, I was responsible for sourcing them and there have been no problems. The convenience of them for both purchasing & reporting has been welcomed.

However Allstar been bought out recently and under new terms are charging a processing fee for each transaction which has increased the cost of these cards x 8. What was a £12 annual card fee, now comes with a £2 charge for every spend, with a weekly fill up it gets quite expensive quite quickly.

I’ve been trying to source a suitable replacement card but all the other providers have much smaller networks which could be a bit of a headache, our engineers work nationwide and the convenience of being able to fill up practically anywhere was attractive. It could well be that should management still want to use fuel cards that our engineers will just have to plan their journeys.

I know Keyfuels have a reasonable network, circa 2,000 sites and can also offer us a ¾% annual saving with fixed price fuel, I’m just awaiting some geo site data to see where their sites fall in relation to where we work.

Are there any other UK based companies offering a large network of filling stations? Which fuel card does your employer provide?

Thanks,

BennyC

 

[Catanonia]

Cheeky beggars. What with a monopoly, that is outrageous.

I can see them loosing a few customers with that move.

 

[HardwareGeek]

We have 2 fuel cards, BP is preferred cos we get a better deal and further savings opting out of the nectar points and Arval as a backup for any guys without a BP or for emergencies when we cant get to a BP.

Can also use card for carwash, oil and some other stuff etc

 

[doll]

The reasons you'll get savings from Keyfuels is becuase the Arval card is a retail card. They just recharge the pump price to you.

But you are right, the convenience with the Arval/Allstar option is that it is accepted anywhere.

Contact UK Fuels - they have a number of different card options that can be customised to cover what you need. You should be able to get a card that will be accepted anywhere, but has a better price at a specified numbers of garages and retail recharge at the rest.

 

[Scania]

Another nod for UK Fuels, my employer (Stobart group) use them for their fleet, large coverage and - knowing Stobart - they will have to offer a good rate to have got their business.

 

[mr tommo]

We use fuel genie. Fill up at Morrisons & Tesco. There are one of each just around the corner from us. Can also use our personal Tesco clubcards so win win

 

[BennyC]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll look in to a few of those options.

Quite a damaging move for Arval/AllStar!

 

[Deep]

Ha I was just speaking to our Fleet team about this yesterday. I work in the accounts department and oversee the fleet area
We're with both Allstar and Keyfuels (historic contracts)

Allstar have been generally rubbish in my eyes. Not much savings, terrible invoicing, terrible support system as well.
Keyfuels (CH Jones) aren't brilliant on the invoicing aspect but their support is much better. They only got electronic invoicing 2 years ago, and even then the invoice didn't match their paper counterparts.

 

[Ivyforce]

Really depends on fleet location.

Allstar is good for acceptance but costs, (sites make less too on allstar)
Keyfuels is a 'bunker card' so some areas there are high site numbers other areas are poor.

You could try a multi-network card from an oil company. There is a Shell/Esso multi-network card, you can get direct from oil co or from third party.

Once you choose card there are several pricing models:

Polesign price and just use like account to give drivers access to fuels.
Weekly pricing were you will pay a set price, some weeks will be cheaper and others more expensive than polesign.
fixed discount of the pole.

Most fuelcards will be able to offer the purchase restictions as well.

 

[Windle]

BP Supercharge has worked everywhere for me apart from Jet petrol stations. It even worked in this random shed with one pump outside I had to use in the highlands once!

 

[MaX_PoWah]

we use dieselpoint and total cards, totalcards recently changed hands to rontec and now there called euroshell cards.

Cant complain at either but we occasionally have to have a winge at them about the rate

There seems to be endless amounts of card providers though... surely you can find one that meets your usage / profile

 

[nutcase]

Have you got any info on the allstar changes as we've recently moved over to them so wouldn't be surprised if the logistics manager will do her nut when she finds out!

 

[MRCAS]

Do some homework so you can make an informed decision.

I am a Cost Reduction specialist and having conducted user/advisor research (as a Fuel Card user and Fleet account manager) for over six months, I have established that you will be better off using a dedicated fully independent credit card, some of these offer additional benefits such as cash back, which can further benefit you. In addition to this, you will be free to purchase your fuel wherever you like and take advantage of preferential pricing.

Most of these companies are now adopting aggressive sales tactics to secure new business, as businesses become more aware of the incidental costs that incrementally add up. For example you will most likely experience some unforeseen and in some cases, punative charges, for minor ‘issues’ on the account, or random charges such as £75+VAT for an unrequested ‘Account Review’ by the provider.

There is often token Customer Services, who are powerless to resolve any complaints or issues and operate ‘no name’ policies on communications and are there really to just support the sales process.

I would advise that you do your homework and make an informed decision.

 

[rodenal]

OK....emmm....how the hell did you find this thread?

Seems very informative and borderline logical for random spam mind you

 

[jpmonkey69]

snip

BRB, concocting a reply... Should take around a year and 9 months.