Fleet Card

A fleet card is a payment card that a business gives to its drivers to pay for the costs of running vehicles. Its main use is fuel, but most fleet cards also cover maintenance, repairs, car washes, tolls, parking and, increasingly, electric vehicle charging. Each card is usually assigned to a vehicle, a driver or both, and every transaction is recorded with details such as the fuel type, volume, odometer reading and location. The business uses this information to control spending, check fuel efficiency and manage tax reporting.

Fleet cards are a type of commercial card, alongside the corporate card and purchasing card. The term overlaps heavily with fuel card; some providers use the two names interchangeably, while others use "fuel card" for cards limited to fuel and "fleet card" for cards covering broader vehicle costs.

• Closed-loop cards. Issued by an oil company or a fuel station network and accepted only at its own sites, sometimes with discounts per litre. These are often described under closed-loop card schemes.
• Partner network cards. Issued by specialist fleet card companies and accepted at a defined network of independent and branded stations.
• Open-loop cards. Issued on major card networks and accepted wherever those cards are taken, with controls that limit use to vehicle-related merchants.

Closed and partner network cards tend to offer better fuel pricing and detailed data from the station, while open-loop cards provide wider acceptance.

Fleet card programmes give fleet managers detailed control over spending. Typical controls include:

• Restricting purchases to specific merchant category codes or to fuel only.
• Limits on amount per transaction, per day or per week, and on the number of fill-ups.
• Limits on fuel type, so a diesel vehicle's card cannot buy petrol.
• Time and location restrictions, such as working hours or certain regions.
• Prompts for driver ID, vehicle number and odometer reading at the pump.

Fleet transactions often carry enhanced data, sometimes called level 3 data, giving item-level details such as product codes, quantity and unit price. Combined with telematics from the vehicles, this allows the fleet manager to compare fuel bought with distance driven and detect anomalies. Data feeds into fleet management systems and accounting software, and in many countries it supports recovery of value-added tax or fuel tax credits.

Fleet cards are attractive to fraudsters and are vulnerable to misuse by drivers. Common problems include filling personal vehicles or jerry cans, buying non-fuel items, collusion with station staff, and card skimming at pumps. Countermeasures include PIN requirements, driver-specific cards, matching transaction location with vehicle GPS, alerts for purchases exceeding tank capacity and rapid card cancellation. Chip and contactless technology at pumps has reduced counterfeit fraud, but unattended pumps remain a target.

The fleet card market includes oil majors, specialist fleet payment companies and banks. Large specialist providers operate networks across many countries and offer additional services such as toll payment, vehicle maintenance management and EV charging access. Revenue comes from merchant fees, card fees, margins on fuel and, for open-loop cards, interchange. Many fleet card providers extend credit to customers, so credit risk management is central to the business, and cards are often structured as charge cards with weekly or monthly billing.

The move to electric vehicles is changing fleet cards. Charging takes place at home, at depots and on public networks operated by many different companies, each with its own app or payment method. Fleet card providers are building access to charging networks into their cards and apps and are developing ways to reimburse drivers for charging at home, measured by smart chargers. This requires new data, such as kilowatt hours, and new partnerships with charge point operators, and it is reshaping a business that was built on fuel station networks.

Fleet cards are generally regulated as commercial payment products rather than consumer credit, so consumer protection rules may apply only partly. Tax treatment matters to customers: in many countries, businesses can reclaim VAT on fuel purchased for business purposes if they keep proper records, and fleet card statements are designed to meet those requirements. Some jurisdictions also have rules on fuel tax refunds for certain vehicle types, which detailed fleet data helps support.