Bento For Business

Finding the Best Fuel Cards for Your Business

Fleet fuel cards help you set spending limits and remove the hassle of reimbursements.

At many small businesses, people have to drive to get their jobs done. Whether they are going to client sites, purchasing supplies, or heading to networking events, small business owners and their employees are on the road. Each trip is an expense. Different types of credit and debit cards can be used, and a comparison can help you find the best fuel cards for your needs.

What Are Fuel Cards?

Fuel cards are credit or debit cards issued for use at gas stations. They are often issued by different oil companies and cannot always be used at competing stations. Some can be used to pay for tires, repairs, or convenience store purchases, while others can only be used at the fuel pump.

Fuel cards are often tied to the vehicle. They are kept in the glove compartment and used by whoever is driving the vehicle that day. Or, they can be assigned to individual employees, depending on what suits the business’s needs.

The Benefits of Fuel Cards 

 Fuel cards come with a lot of benefits for all types of business. They include:

Reduced Expenses 

Many companies require their employees to pay for fuel using their own money when they travel. Some employees may submit fake receipts to cover up their other purchases during business trips. As such, your company may incur numerous losses when relying on the traditional reimbursement method.

With fuel cards, you can follow up with all payments that employees have made. You might choose to make adjustments when you see problems in spending. You also curb employee fraud as you can customize the cards only to be used for fuel. 

Great Cash Flow Management

You can prevent employees from overspending by specifying the amount they can spend each day or week. When they are not working, you can turn off the cards to prevent them from fueling non-company vehicles. You can accurately upload the fuel payment data into your accounting software. With all your fuel expenses at one place, it will be easier to formulate strategic business plans.

Minimal Reimbursement Issues

Because employees will not have to use their own funds to fuel vehicles, a fuel card program keeps their work expenses from interfering with their personal finances and budgeting. They also will rarely need to submit reimbursement requests which may take longer to be processed. 

Saves Company Time 

Your employees will never have to wait for long periods for fuel cash whenever they need to travel. They may not even have to report to the office when they have all they need on the road. As such, timely deliveries will be made.

Fuel Cards versus Regular Cards

The best fuel cards have controls that suit the needs of the business. Often, the control is simply that they cannot be used except to purchase gas. That works great unless the driver needs repairs or has an unexpected emergency. 

Traditional corporate credit cards can accommodate fuel plus everything else, but they often have no controls other than the card’s credit limit. 

There is middle ground: a Visa debit card with super simple, flexible controls that let you stay within your budgets and make changes as your business grows. Bento for Business offers Visa debit cards tied to an FDIC-insured bank account. You can tie them to a vehicle or an employee, limit them to fuel pumps, and change controls as needed. If an employee needs to pick up supplies or get a flat tire fixed, controls can be changed in real time to make it possible.

Bento for Business has the Best Fuel Cards 

Bento for Business was started by finance professionals to make it easier for small businesses to grow. The key is the ability to manage their budgets. Our flexible yet simple controls make this possible. 

You too can transform your business using business debit cards from Bento. You can start with a free 60-day trial to check whether the cards are feasible for your company. The cards feature foolproof SSL technology security and deposit insurance of up to $250,000. Call us to learn more details about gas cards for your business or schedule a free demo.