The Technology Advantages Of Fleet Cards

 Taking advantage of the latest technology to help improve fuel efficiency and reduce the time spent in tracking and monitoring in a small or large fleet makes good business sense. Options that are now built into fleet cards can provide you with these types of options as part of the standard card service. Understanding just what options are available to help you understand fuel consumption, efficiencies of different vehicles and different drivers is now all available at the click of a mouse.

Most of the major companies offering fleet cards use Smartchip technology, which is different than traditional fuel cards or credit cards. These traditional types of cards use a magnetic strip on the back of the card to encode information for processing the transaction. However, these magnetic strips provided little in the way of security if the card was stolen. The magnetic strip also was not useful in limiting the use of the card for specific purchases. It could limit to the retailer, but not to the specific item.

Smartchip technology in fleet cards offers a much broader application both for tracking as well as security. The chips are not reproducible and cannot be cloned, preventing any concerns about fraud and theft with a cloned card. The Smartchip is pre-set with a PIN or personal identification number. The employee using the card has to key in the correct PIN in order to use the card. New options even allow you to set a number of attempts at a PIN before Buy Cloned Cards On The Dark Web  card locks. This can really help in reducing any theft or fraud issues as the locked card is inoperable until unlocked by someone in the company with that level of authority.

In addition the Smartchip can be set up to only allow specific types of purchases. This means that you can pre-set the type of fuel and even the volume of fuel per fill up with the card. The individual employee cannot exceed those limits that are set within the card itself. The register or scanner reading the Smartchip off the card will also fail in any attempt to charge any unapproved item or category of item to the card. This means that a fuel only card cannot be used for buying items from the filling station convenience store or even for repairs. If these types of purchases are acceptable the card can be customized to meet those needs.

Further refinement in purchasing ability can also be found with fleet cards with Smartchip technology. It is possible to limit the time of day that the card can be used, ensuring that the vehicles cannot be filled outside of work hours. Very specific options such as selecting the days of the week or even the number of transactions allowed per day or week also takes all the stress out of providing employees with fuel cards that could be used for personal purchases or unauthorized fills.

With the Smartchip in place it is also possible for the fleet manager or other authorized individuals to track information about the vehicle in real time online. The card reader transmits information back to the main system where a user login allows access to specific accounts. From here the manager can track the amount of fuel per driver, miles per gallon and the efficiency of the vehicle. It is also possible to track repairs and business related purchases all from the same main website.

Using Smartchip technology in fleet cards eliminates the need for drivers to maintain purchase records and collect and turn in receipts. It also means that driver's don't have to pay for fuel and then be reimbursed at a later time. Account managers never need to hunt for records and, with lower prices for fuel, the cost savings for companies can be substantial over a year.