Commercial Credit Cards and the Response of Fuel Card Providers'

Publication Date	March 2007
Publisher	Datamonitor
Product Type	Brief
Pages	21
ISBN Number	not applicable
Product Code	DAT04667

Price

£1,495.00
approximately: $2,640 | €1,896

PDF

PRINT £1,545 ($2,728 | €1,959)

Order above formats by FAX

Summary

Introduction

Commercial fuel card providers are increasingly coming under pressure from corporate cards which are providing a widening array of benefits. In response issuers of commercial fuel cards need to innovate to increase card uptake, especially within the SME sector. Based on Datamonitor's in-house research, this brief identifies the areas where fuel card issuers can gain a competitive advantage.

Scope

A quantitative analysis of the growth rates of corporate cards and commercial fuel cards across Europe.
An assessment of the facilities provided by corporate cards which are popular among small and medium sized businesses.
An understanding of how oil companies have innovated in their commercial card offerings to win the custom of smaller businesses.

Highlights

Although there are more commercial fuel cards than corporate cards in Europe, between 2000 and 2005, the number of corporate cards on the European market increased year-on-year at a rate of 5% above that of commercial fuel cards.

Corporate cards incorporate a wide range of facilities and benefits that are attractive to SMEs; examples include multi-retailer loyalty programmes, account management, planning facilities and even fuel discounts, especially if offered by supermarkets.

Selected oil companies such as BP, Total and Ultramar have responded to the threat of corporate credit cards by expanding their commercial fuel card offerings to include credit card functionality and multi-retailer loyalty schemes.

Reasons to Purchase

Understand the extent to which corporate cards are growing in popularity and the relative weaknesses of existing commercial fuel card propositions.
Gain insight into innovative corporate credit cards in Europe and understand the main features which should be applied to your commercial fuel card.
Learn why certain businesses choose not to use commercial fuel cards and how they currently purchase their fuel.

Content

DATAMONITOR VIEW
CATALYST
SUMMARY
ANALYSIS
- Corporate fuel cards are becoming more popular in Europe, but face numerous challenges from commercial cards
- Germany and Spain have the largest number of corporate fuel cards in circulation in Europe
- A significant proportion of businesses that do not use corporate fuel cards use credit cards instead
- Providers of corporate fuel cards in Europe face stiff competition from commercial cards
- Commercial card numbers have been growing at a quicker rate than corporate fuel card numbers
- Commercial cards which are part of the Visa scheme are particularly popular
- Companies' perception that their firm is too small and lack of awareness are the main barriers to fuel card uptake
- Companies are attracted to commercial cards because of the range of benefits on offer
- When corporate fuel cards and commercial cards are measured against five qualities, commercial cards come out on top
- Some commercial credit cards have started to provide fuel discounts
- Commercial credit cards with multi-retailer loyalty programmes can provide more savings features than fuel cards
- Firms are attracted to the wide range of account management and planning facilities offered by commercial credit cards
- Whilst commercial cards carry familiar financial services brands, corporate fuel cards suffer from a lack of brand awareness
- Oil companies are expanding the functionality of their fuel cards in order to counter the threat of commercial cards
- Oil companies are responding to the threat of commercial cards by launching their own business credit cards
- Corporate fuel cards are offering more benefits and facilities to businesses
- Oil companies are increasingly providing corporate fuel cards which are tailored to different types of company
- Service stations should devote more advertising space to fuel cards
Appendix
- Definitions
- Sources
- Western European Cards Database
- Datamonitor Fleet Managers Survey
- Datamonitor Forecourt Retailing Convenience Study 2006
- European Fuel Cards Database
- Further reading
- Websites
- Ask the analyst
- Datamonitor consulting
- Disclaimer
List of Tables
- Table 1: Commercial credit cards provide businesses with a range of benefits
List of Figures
- Figure 1: The number of cards in Spain has been growing at an average rate of 22% year-on-year
- Figure 2: In Spain and the UK, credit cards are used to purchase a sizable proportion fuel volumes
- Figure 3: Across Europe, the UK has the most commercial cards in circulation
- Figure 4: Over 5 years, commercial card numbers in Europe increased at almost twice the rate of fuel cards
- Figure 5: In Spain, over 75% of commercial cards are part of the Visa scheme
- Figure 6: Half of fleet managers in the Netherlands believe that their firm is too small for a fuel card
- Figure 7: The Tesco business credit card and the Caja Madrid card offer discounts on fuel
- Figure 8: The Natwest commercial card and the American Express Nectar card offer retailer savings
- Figure 9: Barclaycard, the Bank of Ireland and BNP Paribas offer account management facilities
- Figure 10: Shell and BP are the best-known fuel card brands
- Figure 11: The Ultamar and RaceTrac fuel cards from North America have credit card functionality
- Figure 12: Fuel cards from Total, BP and Shell offer businesses a range of non-fuel benefits
- Figure 13: Repsol and BP's corporate fuel card ranges offer cards tailored to different business types
- Figure 14: Only 4.4% of European forecourt advertising space is committed to fuel cards