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Fleet FAQ

Fleet FAQ? Fuel Management

Q. One of the challenges I have is fraud. How can a fuel card help me stop it?

A. Fraud is definitely a big issue for companies managing their fuel costs.

One of the biggest issues is skimming. Criminals install devices on pumps at some fueling stations to read information from magnetic-stripe cards as they’re swiped. Then they steal the account information and clone a counterfeit card to be used elsewhere. EMV chip cards are on their way, but it will be a few years before they are accepted everywhere, perhaps 2020 at the earliest.

So, for now, a fuel card helps in numerous ways. By setting up a fuel card with driver identification numbers, companies can track unauthorized spending or easily manage lost or stolen cards. By setting up controls by driver or by vehicle, managers can get better insight and better control into what their drivers are buying. And many fuel cards have an automatic pump shut-off feature that will stop a fuel purchase that exceeds company policy before it can be completed.

Fraud also takes the form of employee misuse, which can be remedied with tight tracking of fuel card purchases. Another remedy is pairing a fuel card with GPS tracking devices known as telematics, which tells savvy managers whether the vehicle a fuel card says was being fueled at a certain station was actually at that station – or somewhere else.

Expert Bio

Answered by : Bernie Kanavagh from WEX

Senior Vice President and General Manager

A 27-year fleet professional, Bernie Kavanagh currently serves as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Large Fleet at WEX Inc. He joined the company in 1996 and his career has been a steady progression of increased sales and marketing responsibility. Kavanagh serves on industry related boards and is a frequent speaker at payment industry conferences focusing on fuel trends and technology in the payment space. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of New Jersey and is an active member of NAFA, AFLA, NCSFA and AALA. Prior to joining WEX, Kavanagh held a number of roles with Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Enterprise Fleet Management.

A 27-year fleet professional, Bernie Kavanagh currently serves as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Large Fleet at WEX Inc. He joined the company in 1996 and his career has been a steady progression of increased sales and marketing responsibility. Kavanagh serves on industry related boards and is a frequent speaker at payment industry conferences focusing on fuel trends and technology in the payment space. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of New Jersey and is an active member of NAFA, AFLA, NCSFA and AALA. Prior to joining WEX, Kavanagh held a number of roles with Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Enterprise Fleet Management.

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Fleet FAQ? Fuel Management, Questions?

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Q. What is a fuel card? How does it work?

A. Fuel cards were designed to make it easier for businesses to pay when they fuel their vehicles. As fuel cards became more sophisticated, they also began offering businesses discounts and rebates plus the ability to track and analyze fuel purchases, creating the ability to control costs, making it easier to track expenses and enhance the bottom line without carrying cash or relying on inaccurate manual data entry.

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