When choosing fuel cards, it’s important to look at any associated costs and expenses. Fuel cards with no fees offer savings for businesses. After all, why pay for a whole range of extra charges on top of paying for fuel?
What kind of fees do some fuel cards charge?
There are a number of different charges that you might incur without even realising it, rendering an apparently good deal much less attractive once everything is factored in.
Here’s a rundown of the key fuel card fees to watch out for:
- Annual card charge
- Network service fee
- Replacement card
- Convenience charge
- Change of details
- Invoicing
- Direct debit admin
- Risk-based fee
Annual card charge
Some fuel cards charge an annual fee for membership of the scheme, which is often chargeable per card issued. This could be, for example, £20 per card, or even £40 for bearer cards (cards that have no employee name or vehicle registration ascribed to them). The more drivers or vehicles added, the greater the overall charge, meaning you pay a penalty for growing your business.
Choosing fuelGenie means paying no annual charges as the card is free.
Network service fee
Certain fuel cards charge a particular fee every time a driver fuels up and pays with the scheme. This is over and above the price paid for the fuel itself. This could be in the region of £3 per transaction, which quickly adds up over time and multiple vehicles.
With fuelGenie, there is no network service fee, so all that’s charged is the cost of the fuel.
Replacement card
It’s the easiest thing in the world for a card to be misplaced or left behind somewhere. You don’t want to be penalised whenever that happens, but many card providers do charge a replacement fee which could typically be around £6 each time.
Luckily, fuelGenie won’t charge you a penny for any replacement cards required.
Convenience charge
Certain fuel card companies will slap on an additional ‘convenience charge’, incurred whenever drivers fuel up anywhere other than certain selected stations. This is normally levied per unit of fuel and can add up to 6 pence per litre to the final bill.
The fuelGenie cards do not impose any convenience charges on members.
Change of details
In business, almost anything can change. Although the company name may seem set in stone, it might have to alter one day due to a rebrand, merger or trademark dispute. Whatever the reason for the adjustment, the last thing you want is additional charges from your fuel card provider just to update your cards.
fuelGenie is on the side of businesses, so instead of charging £6 per card to update the company name, we’ll charge you nothing at all.
Invoicing
Need a copy invoice? No problem – that’ll be £25 please. That’s how the conversation goes with certain other fuel card providers, but not with fuelGenie.
We don’t charge for copy invoices requested by telephone or email. And if you need a paper invoice, there is only a small charge of £5, half the amount you’d pay to our close competitor.
Best of all, fuelGenie’s easy online management system means all documents and invoices are electronic and accessible.
Direct debit admin
Fuel cards work by charging the cost of fuel purchased to a company account via direct debit. If a direct debit payment fails, some card providers can charge a fee approaching £100.
However, at fuelGenie we will only charge a minimal fee of £49, to cover the costs of administration incurred by the Direct Debit bounce back.
Risk-Based Fee
Many card providers also charge a risk-based fee of up to 24 pence per litre, but fuelGenie customers are free from this burden as we do not charge it.
