BP: Is it the Right Fuel Card Provider for You?

BP is one of the largest oil and fuel companies on the planet, so it only stands to reason that they offer their own fuel card service to businesses who rely on a lot of trucking or driving. And with fuel costs rising steadily, any business that relies heavily on fuel consumption has a lot to gain from investing in a fuel card, as it can offer discounts and benefits.

If you’re interested in a fuel card, whether it’s a BP product or not, you can get quotes tailored specifically to your business by filling out our quote comparison tool. You’ll receive zero-commitment quotes, and can make a decision whether a fuel card is right for you.

What Are BP’s Fuel Card Options?

BP offers five fuel cards, each with their own specialisations. These are:

BP Plus: The bread and butter BP fuel card, offering you discounts at BP sites across the UK

BP + Aral: For businesses that expand into Europe, this card offers discounts at sites across the entire European continent

BP Fuel & Charge: For businesses that use electric vehicles, or are transitioning from petroleum/diesel to electric vehicles, this card will help you with both

BP PLUS Bunker: For businesses with buses or trucks that need overnight bunkers, this card offers help with both fuel and 600 bunker sites across the country

BP Supercharge: BP’s most beefed up fuel card, this is the BP Plus card with the addition of thousands more participating fuel sites, like Esso and Texaco.

What is the BP Supercharge Fuel Card?

You might be wondering what we meant by the Supercharge being BP’s “most beefed up card. “The BP Supercharge card is perhaps BP’s most “powerful” fuel card. With no transaction fees, and access to over 7,600 fuelling sites (which is almost 90% of the UK’s entirety of fuelling sites), this card would suit almost any fleet of vehicles.

With the BP Supercharge card, invoices are made automatically back to the company. Unlike the BP Plus Cards, there is a card fee of between £12 and £24 per year depending on the size of fleet. This pricing structure makes it best suited to larger fleets – something that made this card appear in our best fuel cards for businesses list.

BP’s website specifically focuses on “areas with fewer BP sites.” Some BP cards are cheaper, but only offer you access to official BP sites, so access to a wider range of fuelling options through the Supercharge card can make up for areas where other fuelling stations reign supreme. BP even proposes it as a supplement to the BP Plus or Plus Bunker cards, as it can pick up the slack when BP options are slim.

How much do BP Fuel Cards Cost?

For businesses there is no initial cost for the primary card and you can have as many as you want for your fleet. The company makes its money on BP Fuel Cards by providing all the petrol to run individual fleets and offers price reductions and special offers to card holders as an incentive. They do also produce the more comprehensive BP Supercharge Fuel Card that has an annual fee of between £12 and £24 per card depending on the number required which gives businesses greater access to the fuel network.

Where Can I Use my BP Fuel Card?

Depending on the specific card, you’ll be able to use a BP fuel card at over 7,600 sites across the UK, which is just under 90% of all sites in the country. It’s worth noting that BP offers far more stations in Ireland than its competitors, like Allstar, which is largely focused in the UK.

Let’s look at the specifics for each card:

BP Plus fuel card: Over 3,400 sites, made up of 1,200 BP sites and 2,200 partner stations (Texaco, Gulf, Esso)

BP + Aral fuel card (intended for international trucking businesses): Over 24,000 sites in 32 countries

BP Fuel & Charge fuel card: Over 11,000 charging sites across the UK

BP Supercharge fuel card: Over 7,600 sites, made up 1,200 BP sites and 6,400 partner stations

BP Plus Bunker fuel card (intended for housing buses or trucks): Over 600 bunker sites

A few things to keep in mind – not all of these sites will be able to service Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs). While the exact number isn’t clear, the amount of stations that can service HGVs is substantially lower than the overall amount of stations. And if your business is using liquified petroleum gas (LPG), BP might not be the one for you, as most of these stations don’t support LPG.

What Do BP Customer Reviews Say?

It’s a tricky question to answer here, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, review aggregate sites generally discuss BP as a whole, so this will factor in everything from their fuel card discounts to the customer service of their station clerks.

Secondly, world events around the broader fuel industry have never been more heated. Some five star reviews of BP are lauding the business’s decision to abandon their stake in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, while some one star reviews are condemning the business for hiking fuel prices while people are struggling to afford food.

Putting all that aside, the reviews that we could find that actually referenced the fuel cards seemed to be satisfied with the product, but not overly so. The savings aren’t massive, with an average of 7p per litre, but it can be worth it for larger businesses. The main draw for most people seems to be the dashboard and records that the fuel card offers, which are generally praised across the board.

Our Methodology: How Did We Do Our Research?

Five researchers carried out in-depth research into UK fuel cards according to a comparison framework designed by our research team leader. For each card we’ve asked these questions:

• How convenient is it to use?
• How helpful is it for managing fuel expenses?
• What can it do to ensure your company’s funds are secure?
• What extra benefits do you receive from using it?

We’ve also broken down each card by fee structure, fuel type, network coverage and more to offer you the easiest choice.

Next steps

There are now a large range of fuel cards on the market for businesses to choose from and the Fuelcard Company is just one of them. You can compare all the prices for free and what’s on offer with Expert Market and have a better chance of getting the best deal for your company. All you need to do is fill in the form below.