Can Anyone Apply for a Fuel Card? – Fuelmate (2024)

We all know that fuel cards can benefit and help the efficiency within a fleet, but how do you get a fuel card? You may even be wondering if you're eligible to apply for one. In this post, we will endeavour to answer all of the above, to give you some clarity on the fuel card application process and who can successfully apply for a fuel card.

Who can apply for a fuel card?

There are a lot of preconceptions regarding fuel card eligibility, but the simple answer is that any business (large or small) can apply for a fuel card. Fuel card providers are more than willing to offer fuel cards to any business, including sole traders and those who are self-employed. However, it is worth bearing in mind that a minimum spend of approx. £500-£1000 is expected per month by most providers, to ensure businesses do financially benefit from having a fuel card.

As there are so many different types and sizes of businesses to cater for, fuel card providers need to deliver different fuel card options with access to differing networks. Factors such as existing fuel network, miles covered by the driver and the geographical locations of the routes, are also taken into consideration when recommending fuel cards to different businesses. To help you determine which fuel cards may be best suited to your business, please take a look at our previous post.

Unfortunately, fuel cards are not suitable for personal use; this is because to complete the application process, a fuel card needs to be registered against a company.

Application process

When learning the ins and outs of how to get a fuel card, knowing the application process and the reason behind the steps before applying, can really help. You can find a full and detailed description of the application process for fuel cards provided by Fuelmate on our complete guide to fuel cards article. However, to summarise the fuel card application process for all businesses is simple and straightforward:

• Call fuel card provider, or use a useful comparison tool, to determine which fuel cards are most beneficial for your company.
• Apply online or over the phone, depending on the fuel card provider.
• The application process will involve a basic and standard credit checking process.
• Once these checks are complete, you will receive your fuel cards; each time frame will vary depending on the fuel card provider.

Don't be concerned by credit checks

Although credit checks are a vital part of the fuel card application process, they're nothing to be worried about if you have a poor rating. We have a guide describing how credit checking works for fuel cards, but the standard procedure for those with poor credit is to provide a bond payment. Paying a bond payment is a much more common occurrence than you may think when it comes to securing fuel cards. It's something we, as fuel card providers, deal with every day and are more than happy to do this in the case of poor credit.