There are two common types of fuel card pricing; weekly fixed price and pump price. Here we take a deeper look at the difference between them and the pro’s and con’s of both.
Weekly Fixed Fuel Prices
This is the most common type of fuel card account in the UK and is a fixed weekly priced fuel card and offers its users the same price for diesel, at all the relevant sites where the card is used.
Examples of fixed fuel price cards include :
- Shell CRT
- BP Bunker
- Keyfuels
- UK Fuels
- Esso Commercial (sometimes known as Esso Truck)
The benefit of these type of fuel cards is that (should they be working properly) they should be able to help your business generate a saving in the cost of your fuel versus paying the pump price displayed on the pole sign at the service station where you are filling. The saving varies however, dependant on the price of the pump at the site you’re using, but typically this is between 4-6 pence per litre.
You can see Driving Down’s weekly fixed fuel price here.
Weekly Fixed Fuel Prices Pro’s
- Transparent pricing : Your price comes through on email/text message every week, so you know what you’re paying
- Savings : Done right, and managed well, you should be making savings versus the pump price
- In a falling market, your price will drop quickly.
- Your price changes each week, so you’re price stays in touch with what the oil market is doing.
Weekly Fixed Fuel Prices Con’s
- Limited networks : Fixed prices don’t usually apply across the whole of the brand’s network. Take BP for example, the price you receive on a Friday is only applicable at roughly 50% of the sites, with the rest incurring a surcharge. Shell CRT is much the same.
- Savings can vary : Depending on where you are in the country, and what the pump prices are like at your local service station, you may find that savings can vary… a lot! This is especially true if you’ve some big supermarkets in your area who use their fuel prices to attract customers into the store.
- Margin increases by the fuel card supplier : This is the big risk when using a fixed weekly fuel price based fuel card. Because the price changes each week, the fuel card supplier has the ability to add some more margin in each week. Even if it was only one, one-hundredth of penny each week, that would mean you would be still paying half a pence more on each litre by the end of the year!
- Anything bought on the card, that is not diesel, is usually surcharged.
Pump Price Fuel Cards
Pump Price Cards allow the user to pay for fuel at service stations, and be charged for diesel and unleaded at the price that’s displayed on the pumps and pole sign. Pump Price cards don’t typically generate a saving directly on the fuel like a fixed weekly price fuel card should, but the savings for businesses are recognised through time and administration savings, such as consolidated HMRC invoices and reconciliation time versus receipts.
Examples of pump price fuel cards that are accepted in the UK are:
- BP Plus
- Shell Fleet
- Allstar
- Esso Fleet
- Fuel Genie
Pump Price Fuel Card Pro’s
- Petrol and diesel is charged at the price displayed at the pump, so you should never find yourself in a position paying more than the pump price, which you may do on fixed price cards
- Tend to offer the widest networks, with all sites on a brands network accepting the card.
- Come with all the other advantages of a fuel card such as PIN protection and HMRC invoices
Pump Price Fuel Card Con’s
- Lack of saving is the biggest draw back with pump price cards. When you combine this with typically short payment terms, then the advantages versus a credit card (excluding simplified administration) become more difficult to see.
- Premium fuels, such as BP Ultimate and Shell VPower are usually surcharged.
How can Driving Down help?
The team at Driving Down have more than 70 years experience in fleet and fuel. As an independent broker of fuel cards, we’re not tied to any supplier or distributor meaning we are on hand to help you buy the right fuel card from the right supplier. So, whether you’re looking for a fuel card to streamline your administration or want help saving money on your fuel spend, we can help.