Get a charity fuel card to make your fuel expenses cheap and easy
If you run a charity, you’ll know keeping on top of costs is super important. And we know keeping an eye on your budget is hard work.
But what if we told you a charity fuel card made things 20x easier?! At least when it comes to managing your fuel expenses! And that’s why we’re here, to take you through why (and how) you can save money on fuel. Let’s get started!
What’s a charity fuel card?
Charities across the UK can get a money saving fuel cards to help you budget your weekly, monthly and annual fuel expenses.
How it works is pretty simple. You put a set budget on the card, which your drivers can then use to pay for fuel (it can’t be used to pay for anything else).
Then you’re charged on a fixed basis by your fuel card provider to pay the costs on a set date. It’s a nifty way to manage your expenses, letting you plan ahead for your fleet and make sure everyone is sorted with the right funds.
The best fuel cards for charities
There are loads of charity fuel cards you can pick from. While variety is always a good thing, it can still be a bit overwhelming choosing which one is best for you.
So, we’ve compiled this little list of the best fuel cards for charities.
| Fuel Card Name | Key Benefit | iCompario star rating |
 BP Plus Fuel Card |
Fixed weekly price, access to 1,200 BP and 800 Texaco filling stations | ★★★★★ |
 fuelGenie Fuel Card |
Buy petrol and diesel at supermarket prices, with over 1,350 Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s stations | ★★★★★ |
 Esso National Fuel Card |
Pay the price you see at the pump! This card covers 25% of the UK’s fuel stations | ★★★★★ |
 Texaco Fastfuel Fuel Card |
Fixed weekly wholesale prices for your diesel and petrol, over 800 Texaco filling stations and 1,100 fuel sites | ★★★★★ |
 FleetOne Fuel Card |
Has the best site coverage, so you’re all sorted for a huge range of fill up spots all across the UK | ★★★★★ |
Remember, it’s just about comparing the market to find the best deal for your charity. Everyone is different and has various needs.
And by searching through our database you’ll find the best option for your charity.
Fuel cards for businesses in Europe
If you’re travelling in Europe, you may find the EDC fuel card is ideal for use. It provides 24/7 HGV access at many locations across Europe.
9,000, in fact! All with fixed weekly pricing on diesel.
Do keep in mind there’s a lot of aid being taken to Ukraine at the moment. You won’t be able to use this card in Ukraine, you can still use it in most countries on the way.
What fuel cards do charities use?
You can use any fuel cards on the market! You’re not restricted by anything as a charity. All you need to do is pick the provider that matches your needs.
How do you use a charity fuel card?
It’s easy! All a driver needs to do is fill up their vehicle at a petrol station. Then they pay for the fuel with their card.
It works like a credit card does, you see.
The driver pays the amount, that’s logged in your online portal and then the money is debited with an invoice at a later date (either weekly or monthly, depending on the provider).
Are there charity fuel cards for electric vehicles?
Yes, there’s the Fleetone REV fuel card you’ll find handy for charging up your EV.
This is an EV charge card that covers over 3,000 EV charge points across the UK. The Fleetone REV covers the main brands including NewMotion, IONITY, Hastobe, Fastned, EV-Box, ESB Group and Osprey.
But the card can also be used for diesel and petrol purchases (so, a double whammy bonus if you’ve got a fleet of EVs and traditional vehicles).
What are the benefits of a charity fuel card?
This is the good bit! These cards are really fantastic for a few key reasons, which we’ll get into here.
Save money on your fuel costs
This is the big one! Fuel cards have a ton of money saving benefits and discounts that’ll help your charity save budget.
Some fuel cards have a weekly fixed price that can be lower than the pump price.
Some have a percentage off the pump price. Others may offer special terms. For example, the choice of using one local filling station with a great discount.
But you can also use your fuel card with an online portal.
Every time one of your drivers buys some fuel, in your account you can see where they were and the money spent. You get the exact time for it, too!
That makes it much easier to keep track of who’s buying and using the most fuel, or if any of your drivers are using way too much of the stuff.
With all the above combined, you’re looking at nifty savings.
You can work out what’s costing you the most and make changes so you can bring your fuel expenses in line with your budget.
Fuel cards make VAT reclaims easy
One of the great things about a charity fuel card is how easy it is to reclaim your taxes.
You can only reclaim VAT on business-related expenses. So, to get your money back there you’ll need to have:
- Drivers not paying for any private fuel use
- Drivers refunding the cost of any private fuel use
With that in mind, you can reclaim tax. This is because with fuel cards lots of drivers use, all the spending is combined together into an HMRC invoice.
And that makes it a lot easier to reclaim your cash.
Otherwise, you’ve just got loads and loads of petrol receipts to deal with. And who wants to deal with that?
Discounts!
Oh yes, there’s more money to be saved for your charity!
Depending on the fuel card provider you go for, there are discounts to be had. Check the market to see which one is best, but you can often get money off the pump price.
And that’s crucial at a time when fuel costs are higher than ever.
Cover toll fees with ease
You can actually use some international fuel cards with tolls across the UK and Europe. And that’s another way to easily handle some expenses and reduce admin.
Cut down on loads of admin
With a fuel card and your online portal, you don’t need to keep track of all those receipts you’d have to deal with.
And that cuts down on a ton of wasted admin time.
Think about it—everything is documented in your online account! All fuel expenses and with important data about where, when and by who (or whom, if you want to get fancy about it).
And as we’ve said, that’s a massive time saver for VAT reclaims, as well as keeping track of your drivers’ spending.
Extra security
When you get a fuel card, you get a secure PIN-protected electronic payment method. The beauty of this is it keeps your money safe.
And that’s even if your driver loses the card (or it gets nicked).
You can add an extra layer of security to cards, too, so it sends you an alert if it seems your card is being used too often. It’s designed to know if there’s unusual activity going on, you see, so that can stop fraudulent activity fast.
And that’s all great for securing your finances and for peace of mind. But you can also check out our guide to fuel card fraud for an extra layer of security, too.
iCompario tip: Check out these other ways to save fuel
You can teach your drivers all sorts of nifty tricks to maximise your fuel consumption. Stuff like not leaving the engine ticking over and not coasting along. It’s all part of effective fleet management! Want to know more? Check out our fleet fuel saving tips for further ideas on how to knock the pennies off your expenses. Or get some radical new management systems by comparing the market for vehicle tracking and telematics.
Ready to get a charity fuel card?
Okay, you now know all the benefits of getting a fuel card! Congrats.
And… what’s the next step? Well, we guess it’s a good time to compare the market. All you have to do is:
- Enter a few details into our free form
- We’ll search our UK database
- You get a bunch of fantastic deals
You can then take your pick from the best charity fuel cards on offer. Seriously, there’ll be one for you in there. What are you waiting for? Compare the market now to save money on fuel!
