Commercial Fuel Card Services in Europe: Innovations and Issuer Benchmarking

Introduction

Commercial Fuel Card Services in Europe is essential for existing fuel card issuers seeking to improve their own card proposition, as well as new entrants and suppliers to the market. Based on executive research with the leading issuers in Europe, the report benchmarks the additional services offered and introduces innovative commercial card offerings.

Features and benefits

* Support investment in additional card features by assessing your fuel card against rival card propositions across Europe.
* Understand the standard fuel cards services and features that ideally have to be provided for fleet managers when entering the fuel cards market.
* Whether you are an established or new issuer, benchmark your services, uncover what differentiates your offer and learn how to promote your card.
* Identify which card issuers have a limited offer and require support to enhance their proposition with a view to providng them with assistance.
* Glean ideas for additional card services by uncovering some of the initiatives adopted by leading fuel card issuers across Europe.

Highlights

Pan-European cards, including the euroShell card and Routex partners typically feature services designed for drivers of larger vehicles, typically above 3.5 tonnes. Pan-European cards can be used at service station shops and motorway tolls, feature comprehensive reporting tools and offer net of VAT invoicing and tax recovery services.
Much of the innovation in fuel card services and features is by independent non-oil company affiliated players such as Arval, Travelcard, MTC and CCS which are organized on a domestic or regional level. Such players offer additional services including telematics, mobile phone apps and subscription-based vehicle servicing.
Increasingly card resellers are better at promoting the features and benefits of fuel cards than the card issuers themselves. Many card issuers need to embrace new and innovative additional card features and do more to promote their services, especially those that differentiate them from their competitors.

Your key questions answered

* How do the additional services offered on my card compare with my rivals? Are there any new card services we should consider introducing?
* What are fuel card issuers such as Lukoil, UTA and DKV offering in terms of on-the-road services, security services, management control and reporting?
* Which card issuers offer emissions reporting and how have they marketed this? Which card issuers offer exception reporting and alerts?
* Which card issuers can I help to enhance their offer by providing services such as parking facilities or a mobile phone app?
* Are there any gaps in the offerings of card issuers such as Shell, BP, Statoil, OMV, MOL, Q8, Repsol, Cepsa, Travelcard, MTC, Grupa Lotos and Topaz?
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OVERVIEW
Introduction
ACTION POINTS
New entrants must ensure core fuel card services are offered
Promote services that are not offered by competing issuers
Embrace new and innovative additional card features and services
Improve the online marketing of a commercial fuel card
Understand customer requirements through social media and focus groups
DEFINING THE EUROPEAN FUEL CARD MARKET AND ADDITIONAL CARD SERVICES
This report examines the leading fuel card issuers across 25 European countries
The fuel card service proposition of 32 of the leading issuers by volume in Europe is analyzed
Only commercial fuel cards are considered in this report
Only closed loop cards issued to businesses with the primary intention to purchase fuel are considered
The fuel card market is split between vehicles above and below 3.5 tonnes
References are made throughout this report to the fleet (<3.5t) and commercial road transport (>3.5t) customer bases
Datamonitor has grouped card features and services into four categories
The placement of services and features into groups aids formal benchmarking and comparison
On-the-road services include non-fuel service station purchases, journey facilitators, and contingencies
Security features are of high importance to all stakeholders within the fuel card transaction process
Management control features are of particular use to fleet managers with a large number of vehicles
Management reporting services underpin many management control and security features
Notes about the pan-European and domestic and regional benchmarks
Pan-European and domestic and regional fuel cards are separately examined
Card issuers with multiple offerings are classified according to their most comprehensive offer
Card issuers in multiple markets are classified according to their most comprehensive offer
STRATEGIC ISSUES
Card issuers are focusing on additional card features in addition to pricing and acceptance
In some markets additional features remain the only way for issuers to grow market share
A focus on additional services and features is key if new entrants are to succeed
High pump prices are fostering demand for commercial fuel cards
A range of additional features are more important for card issuers that do not offer a price discount
Fuel card issuers should continue to differentiate themselves from rival payment schemes
The European fuel card market is of interest to other players in the payments space
Banks cannot currently offer the same level of reporting services as existing issuers
Online business-to-business comparison tools could push issuers to improve their additional services
Business-to-business (B2B) comparison websites could improve the card offer available to end users
Third-party re-sellers in the UK offer aggregator tools and suggest appropriate cards
PAN-EUROPEAN CARD ISSUERS SERVICE BENCHMARKING
There are two independent and four major oil company pan-European cards
Pan-European cards tend to be focused on CRT customers
DKV
DKV issues co-branded cards with a number of regional oil companies including Repsol
UTA
Around a quarter of service stations in Europe accept the UTA card
Shell
Shell has the largest oil company-branded pan-European fuel card acceptance
Routex
The reporting features offered by Routex partners vary
TOTAL
The Eurotrafic card is TOTAL's pan-European offering
Esso
The Esso card can be used at Shell-branded service stations within some European markets
Acceptance
DKV and UTA have the largest European country acceptance of all fuel cards
On-the-road services
On-the-road services tend to be fairly standard across pan-European issuers
Security
Basic security features are now standard across pan-European card issuers
Management control
None of the major pan-European issuers offers brand restriction
Management reporting
Each of the pan-European issuers offers comprehensive invoice summaries
Shell, BP, and DKV are the only pan-European issuers to offer emissions reporting
DOMESTIC AND REGIONAL CARD ISSUERS SERVICE BENCHMARKING
On-the-road services
The majority of domestic and regional issuers allow customers to purchase goods and services
Security
Each of the domestic and regional issuers examined offers PIN as standard, but exception reporting is less popular
Management control
Volume and fuel type restrictions are popular among most card issuers in Europe
Management reporting
A range of different invoice summaries are widely available among domestic and regional card issuers
ESTABLISHED AND INNOVATIVE FUEL CARD SERVICES: KEY EXAMPLES
On-the-road services
Card issuers that offer on-the-road services typically use a coding system to restrict their use by card
Different levels of breakdown service and repair assistance are offered by card issuers
Both independent and oil company fuel cards can often be used to pay for vehicle parking
The CCS Business card can be used for payment at selected restaurants and retailers
Security
PIN configurations vary from one card issuer to another
TOTAL and Shell guarantee against any purchases that have been made after a card has been stopped
Arval suspends a card rather than canceling it once it has been reported as stolen or lost
Many of the major oil companies offer complex exception reporting and alerts
Most cards have information printed on them which can act as an additional security feature
Management control
Shell offers a single-network or multi-network fuel card
Multi Tank Card customers can place restrictions on filling up at specific times and on specific days of the week
Arval has a weekly competitor and regional-level price comparison tool
Topaz sends an SMS message to fleet managers the day before a price change
Enhanced management control can be offered through telematics systems
Management reporting
Card issuers offering emissions reporting have marketed the service in different ways
Many card issuers offer VAT recovery services through third party arrangements
Odometer reading at the POS is commonplace among larger card issuers in Europe
Travelcard's Fuelling Behavior Monitor enables fleet managers to compare internal performance
Innovative additional services and features
CCS offers named customers personal injury and life insurance as part of its card offer
DKV customers can pay for fuel at any service station in Europe cash-free
DKV and Travelcard have mobile iPhone apps to help cardholders locate the nearest service station
APPENDIX
Card issuers by country
Methodology
Datamonitor undertook a two-stage process to ensure accurate benchmarking
Further reading
Ask the analyst
Datamonitor consulting
Disclaimer
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