The Top 9 Best Fuel Card Providers in 2021

UK Fuels is one of the largest suppliers in the industry. As well as its own branded cards (which we've listed below), it supplies cards from major players such as BP, Shell, and Esso, acting as a middleman between your business and those major oil brands. Among the fuel cards on offer through UK Fuels, you'll find tailored programs for HGVs, small businesses, the public sector, and fleets that travel through Europe.

UK Fuels' app, Velocity, is an excellent portal using which you can view all of your team's fuel purchases. You'll also be able to use UK Fuels' free route-planning app, and have the option of signing up to Kinesis Telematics, the company's award-winning fleet management tool.

With fuel stations all over the world, Esso is undeniably a goliath of the fuel industry. Its fuel card program, Esso Card (distributed by WEX), offers benefits including discounts on Esso Synergy fuel, and Tesco Clubcard and Nectar points for your drivers when they fill up at participating stations. You can also rest assured that you won't be paying over the odds for your team's fuel: Esso fuel is priced locally, so it’s usually very competitive – especially outside of major cities.

Esso Card transactions are listed on invoices that are easy to digest and HMRC VAT-approved. As with UK Fuels, Esso Card gives you access to the Velocity app, using which you can view transactions, block cards, and cap spending from the palm of your hand. Helpfully, Esso also provides around the clock support if you get stuck.

Shell fuel cards have been around for over 50 years. They give you access to one of the largest fuel station networks in the world, offering reduced prices at over 40,000 Shell forecourts and 10,000 partner stations. Shell offers several tailored plans for different levels of spend. And its range of services goes beyond the expectations of a fuel card.

Shell’s impressive online portal lets you manage the security, costs and transactions of your fleet remotely, 24/7. And its clever route planner makes it easy to plan your next pit stop.

What’s more, Shell’s fuel cards let you pay for more than just fuel. You can use them for tunnel and bridge tolls in all major European countries, and for ferry crossings too. Your team can use them for ‘truck on train’ services, so your drivers don’t need to worry about carrying cash everywhere. A Shell fuel card also gives you access to reliable breakdown assistance if you get stuck out on the road.

Allstar may not be as much of a household name as BP, Shell, or Texaco, but it’s still a big player in the fuel card world.

Allstar offers a choice of four cards that can be used at up to 7,700 stations in the UK – that’s a staggering 90% of all UK fuel stations. Partner brands include BP, Shell and Esso, as well as supermarket chains such as Morrisons and Tesco.

Allstar boasts the largest network of fuel sites in the country, and a fuel card used by over 1.1 million drivers. Its concise online reporting streamlines your invoicing process, meaning you can cut down on the tedious admin stuff and get back to growing your business. Plus, your drivers can claim up to 30% off on servicing and repairs at over 9,000 UK garages.

Texaco

With a household name and thousands of UK sites, Texaco is an established and reliable fuel card provider. It’s especially great if you operate in rural areas outside of major cities. As a major global brand, Texaco can offer some of the most competitive prices on fuel of any fuel card supplier.

Texaco is one of the four major oil brands in the world, distributing 270,000 barrels throughout Europe every day. That’s nearly a billion barrels a year. You would expect Texaco to offer extensive coverage, and it does, with over 2,300 stations in the UK alone. These sites include Morrisons, Murco and Jet service stations, as well as Texaco own brand sites.

Up-and-coming fuel card provider The Fuel Store was only started a couple of years ago. But it already claims to offer the largest multi-branded site network in the country.

And with approved HMRC invoicing, 24/7 payment management and competitive pricing, it’s already showing its ambitions to take on the industry big guns.

The Fuel Store’s fuel card, like its rivals, lets you monitor your fuel consumption and total spend. It gives you more control over your company and lets your drivers go cashless. You’ll get fuel reports and transaction information at your fingertips, and have access to a friendly team of account managers if you get stuck.

The Fuel Store’s weekly fixed pricing means you won’t be at the mercy of the tectonic week-to-week shifts in fuel prices, so you can save more in the long run.

Keyfuels gives you access to a network of over 2,750 multi-branded sites, including Tesco and Morrisons supermarkets. Keyfuels started out in the haulage industry, so its fuel card is great for catering to the bigger vehicles on the road.

Over 540 of its forecourts are tailor-made for heavy goods vehicles, with high canopies and faster pumps. These forecourts are also strategically placed, meaning you won’t lose time taking detours to fill up.

Keyfuels also offers ‘ControlMax’, an intelligent online system exclusive to its brand. It gives you more control over your fuel security by letting you monitor fuel card velocity controls. You can enforce these in real time to make sure you stay on top of your drivers.

With more than 6,500 European refuelling locations, the European Diesel Card (EDC) is perfect if your business spans the continent. EDC lets you wrangle reduced prices of up to 50% on road and tunnel tolls across Europe.

EDC cards offer no minimum spend and don’t rope you into a contract. So how much you spend is solely up to you and the demands of your business.

BP boasts a card you can use to top up at over 8,000 sites in the country. That includes a third of all motorway service stations, and equates to nine out of 10 forecourts. And BP’s branded site coverage is so extensive that an estimated 90% of Britain’s population lives within 5 miles of a BP forecourt. Now that’s convenience!

BP’s intuitive app allows you to quickly find your closest refuelling station. And you can quickly and easily log your vehicles’ miles using its automated mileage capture tool. And when you factor in BP’s strong brand power and solid customer support? It’s not hard to see why over 40,000 UK businesses use its fuel cards.