Glossary

Fuel Card

A payment card used by businesses and fleet drivers to purchase fuel, with centralised billing, mileage tracking, and often negotiated discounts at participating stations. Examples include the BP Plus card, Shell Fleet Card, and AllStar Business Solutions.

Direct Answer / TL;DR

What is Fuel Card?

Why does it matter for UK drivers?

Fuel cards are widely used by SMEs, hauliers, couriers, and company car drivers. They simplify expense management (no cash, no personal credit card) and typically provide VAT invoices automatically. Many cards also offer discounts — either a fixed pence per litre reduction or a price linked to a reference (e.g., PLATTS wholesale price).

The UK fuel card market is dominated by a handful of issuers: AllStar (owned by Radius), WEX (formerly Esso Card), BP Plus, Shell Fleet Card, and Keyfuels. Network coverage varies significantly — some cards only work at proprietary branded sites, while others (particularly AllStar and Keyfuels) cover thousands of independent sites.

For drivers using fuel cards, the 'price paid' per litre is often different from the forecourt pump price — it may be discounted or rebated. This means WorthThePump's price data (from the Fuel Finder API, showing retail pump prices) may not accurately reflect the net cost to a fuel card user. A station showing 148p/L at the pump might cost a fleet driver only 142p/L after their card discount.

Business users should calculate their effective PPL (including card discount, VAT reclaim, and any loyalty credits) when using WorthThePump. The break-even calculation still holds — the relative price difference between stations matters most — but the absolute figures will differ.

Personal fuel cards exist but are less common. Some independents issue loyalty-based fuel cards. Tesco Clubcard and Nectar (Sainsbury's) function as partial fuel cards — providing 1–2p/L savings for qualifying spend thresholds.

Fuel Card

Related terms

Further reading