Intevacon has long understood the value of a fleet card, and we are always excited to see our customers grow their fleet business and profit after adopting our system (see our favorite case studies here).

A recent Oil Express article further corroborated the value of fleet card accounts in its article titled “What a fleet card account is worth” (Vol. XXXVIII, Issue No 15). This article details how Sunoco is expanding its fleet card business by going after house accounts, noting that the top industries for fleet are lawn and garden, electrical, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, pest control, construction, roofing and freight transportation. Sunoco also suggests that retailers should provide discounts to their commercial accounts as a further means of gaining loyalty. Courting these fleet customers is well worth the effort—according to the Oil Express article, the sale volume generated by one new fleet customer is typically equal to that of 13 consumer customers. The article further expounds on the average number of gallons of fuel purchased on the fleet card, as well as the additional dollars that are spent inside the convenience store.

Intevacon’s petroleum marketers have always understood that house accounts are a valuable way to conduct business. While many of our customers do offer discounts to their fleet customers, this is not necessarily the norm. Many times, the relationship and extended credit between the petroleum marketer and his customer is enough to foster loyalty. The average fleet card transaction dollar value is higher than the average consumer transaction dollar value (13x more valuable according to Sunoco above). In addition, petroleum marketers using Intevacon save their margins by eliminating the transaction fee associated with traditional credit cards.

Last year was a good year for the convenience store industry. NACS released their 2014 industry statistics this week, and petroleum marketers ought to be feeling pretty good with the results. According to NACS, industry sales in 2014 reached $697.5 billion dollars with a record in-store sale total of $214.9 billion (a 4.6% increase from 2013). Gasoline prices were reported to be 4% lower in 2014 than the previous year, but the industry still saw an increase of 18.8% in fuel margins this year. This equated to an average of 22.2 cents per gallon in 2014 compared to 18.7 cents per gallon in 2013. With all of this growth, there is also opportunity for petroleum marketers to grow their lucrative house accounts and continue with positive growth into 2015. And there is no reason to give your profits away to the credit card companies and banks. Another article posted by NACS cites that the industry’s pre-tax profits of 10.4 billion dollars amounted to 1 billion dollars less than what the industry paid in credit card fees. With Intevacon, interchange fees are eliminated, and perhaps even more valuable for your fleet accounts, you are able to maintain a relationship with your customers.

Find out more about the Intevacon Fleet Card System by reaching out at 678-739-4450 or emailing moreinfo@intevacon.com.