You have probably never heard of FleetCor Technologies but there is every chance that the Norcross, Georgia, USA company is having a major impact on the way your fleet is run no matter whereabouts on the planet you are based. A multi-million-dollar business with over 2,000 employees globally and active in Europe, Africa and Asia as well as in North and South America, it has gradually emerged as one of the biggest providers of fuel cards worldwide.

The past 18 months have seen it expand in Mexico and Brazil – it views the Latin American market as having major potential – as well as in Russia.

‘Given that two-thirds of all commercial fuel is still purchased with cash and vouchers, Russia has great potential too,’ says FleetCor chairman and CEO, Ron Clarke.

In Europe it acquired the British and Irish fuel card businesses of ReD (Retail Decisions) – back in 2009, the ninth European acquisition it had made since 2006 – while 2011 saw it buy AllStar from Arval in the UK for some €225m. The move was given the UK Office of Fair Trading’s blessing the following year.

In 2011 in conjunction with technology group Logica it won a 10-year €300m contract to support Shell’s Commercial Fleet fuel cards programme in Europe and Asia, having been awarded a new contract for commercial fleet card processing and programme management by BP Products North America little more than six months previously.

Aside from its ability to process huge numbers of daily transactions efficiently – it services over 500,000 accounts – one reason for its global success is its willingness to work with other providers of fleet services.

Just over 12 months ago it collaborated with fleet management services provider FleetMatics to launch the FleetMatics Fuel Card. It relies on a combination of GPS tracking and fuel card reports provided by FleetMatics and transaction services delivered by FleetCor to manage fuel usage by fleet drivers more tightly and drive it down wherever possible.

‘Our arrangement with FleetCor allows us to deliver flexible billing and payment options, personal assistance and training to optimise controls and savings, and strong, customisable purchasing controls that can help avoid any incidence of abuse or theft,’ says FleetMatics CEO, Jim Travis.

It is also willing to respond quickly to local market conditions.

With the economic downturn continuing to bite throughout much of Europe and many businesses – even those with a reasonably respectable credit history – finding it difficult to pass the credit checks mandated by fuel card companies, FleetCor has introduced a pay-as-you-go pre-pay card in the UK through its subsidiary The Fuelcard Company.

Diesel Advance allows operators to top their cards up in advance, either through weekly direct debits from their bank account or online by using a credit or debit card. The process is a bit like topping up a pay-as-you-go mobile phone.

Its involvement in Mexico among other markets means that FleetCor is already well versed in the mechanics of pre-paid plastic.

There is little doubt that mainstream fuel cards have proved to be a boon to fleets by providing an additional line of credit and allowing them to see where fuel was purchased, how much was paid for it, by whom, and which vehicle it went into. Expenditure can be analysed by depot as well as by individual driver and it can be quickly seen how fuel-frugal particular employees and vehicles are.

Heavy-footed drivers may require some re-training while thirsty vehicles may be in need of a service: either that or a chat with the manufacturer may be in order.

Data gleaned from cards can be used to gauge what sort of an impact the fleet is having on the environment, says German card provider UTA.

‘We’ve got a software tool called Drive & Save which allows you to see how much CO2 you are producing,’ says a spokesman. ‘If you store your own fuel in bulk as well as purchase it from service stations, then the tool can import data from your bulk tanks to give you a comprehensive overall picture.’

Cards that can be used in several different European countries, and not just those that are EU members, have been available for many years.

Supported by BP, Aral, OMV, ENI and Statoil, the Routex card is accepted at over 18,000 service stations in 33 countries including more than 9,000 suitable for trucks and coaches. Shell’s euroShell card is welcome at 24,000 sites in 35 countries including Turkey, Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarus.

Esso Card can be proffered at 7,000 of the company’s own filling stations in nine European countries including 2,900 in Italy, 1,140 in Germany and 740 in France. Access to partner stations extends the network to 15,000 sites in 18 countries including locations in Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Poland and Spain.

Total’s Eurotrafic card is valid at 12,000 sites in 16 countries, almost all in Europe but including 100 outlets in Morocco.

One key advantage of cards such as these is that they can often be used for the payment of road, tunnel and bridge tolls, roadside rescue and recovery, and emergency repairs as well as for the purchase of fuel, depending on the restrictions placed on them. They can also be deployed – again depending on the limitations imposed – to purchase tyres, batteries, spare parts and even to get a vehicle washed.

Card users may be able to negotiate a – typically modest – discount on the pump price they pay depending on the card, the network, the volumes of fuel they regularly purchase and the country they are purchasing it in. ‘Depending on the online system you are using then you can see on a daily basis the sort of discounts that are available,’ says Steve Clarke, UK general manager of The Fuelcard People.

Owned by Republic of Ireland based oil and liquefied petroleum gas sales, marketing and distribution specialist DCC Energy, it offers a wide variety of fuel cards including plastic from Shell, BP and Esso.

Single, standardised invoices rather than an envelope full of grubby receipts should make the recovery of VAT, where applicable, easier from the different countries drivers travel through. Unfortunately the financial trials and tribulations still being suffered by so many European governments sometimes make recouping monies owed problematic.

‘Regulations mandate that VAT recovery should take no more than four months within the EU,’ says a VAT recovery specialist from one well-known card company. ‘The French are the quickest – they sometimes pay up in around four to six weeks – but the Italians I’m afraid are rather slow.

‘A favourite ploy of some countries is to wait until just before the four-month deadline and then raise a whole host of queries, which the rules permit them to do,’ she continues. ‘The Poles do that regularly – they ask all sorts of questions – and so do the Spanish.

‘In fact I’m still dealing with VAT queries raised by the Spanish authorities that relate to invoices that date back to 2010.’

Many queries may of course be perfectly legitimate, but are some countries deliberately using delaying tactics in order to aid their cashflow? ‘Not every authority is adopting this approach but some clearly are,’ she replies.

Businesses that do not want to wait what seems like forever to get their VAT back – in some cases it can take as long as 12 to 18 months, says Shell – may be able to opt for a net invoicing VAT service that enables them to receive their VAT in as little as 14 days. It is not available for all countries however: euroShell card’s net invoicing arrangements for example exclude Greece, Hungary and Bulgaria.

Depending on the type of vehicle you run and the nature of your operation you may also be able to claim reimbursement of part of the excise duty paid on any diesel purchased. Shell points out that this is possible in Belgium, France, Italy, Slovenia and Spain.

The latest version of card provider DKV Euro Service’s eReporting package allows users to monitor the current status of their VAT reclaims online and examine them by country and by tax year. Invoices that did not originate from DKV can also be included.

‘Bills and their corresponding refunds are always recorded together and filed electronically,’ says Sven Mehringer, head of the company’s product management refund service. ‘As a result the annoyance of having to thumb through lever-arch files is now a thing of the past.’

DKV eReporting also allows operators to see the tolls paid on German highways 2-3 days after they have been levied.

Active in 42 European countries, with over 36,600 filling stations accepting its plastic, and employing more than 650 people Europe-wide, the firm has recently introduced a so-called DKV Box.

The onboard unit is designed to collect and bill the new Eco Taxe environmental levy due to be introduced by the French government from 20 July onwards. It is to be imposed on all goods vehicles grossing at above 3.5 tonnes used on routes nationales, sections of motorway that were previously toll-free and a number of other main roads.

DKV Box users receive a toll discount of up to 10% and the box can also be used in conjunction with France’s TIS PL scheme to collect other road tolls.

While musing on how much discount on their expenditure on fuel, tolls and other outgoings they may be able to obtain and how rapidly their VAT can be recouped, card users should also take into account how quickly they will need to pay the fuel card company for everything that has been bought.

‘Around 80% of the UK customers we deal with are billed weekly with settlement typically required in either seven or 14 days,’ says Mr Clarke.

Terms can vary however depending on the volume of business done by clients and their payment track record. ‘They might for instance receive two invoices a month, each of which must be settled within 15 days,’ he says.

Start-up companies who do not wish to use the sort of pre-paid card referred to above and do not have a trading record may be asked to put up a bond or some other form of guarantee before fuel card account facilities are extended to them, Mr Clarke says. ‘They are often eager to do so if they can because if they have a fuel card account it can make it easier for them to access other kinds of credit,’ he comments.

Fuel card security remains a perennial concern and card users should always find out how quickly they can cancel a card – it can often be done online – should it be lost, stolen or mislaid and what their liabilities are likely to be if it is used to buy fuel without their knowledge or consent. ‘One of the big problems is that so many fuel cards still rely solely on magnetic stripes rather than chip and PIN technology,’ says Jakes de Kock, The Fuelcard Company’s marketing director.

The industry is moving towards the latter; but not all cards feature it as yet.