How does a fuel card work?

A fuel card works like a business credit card but is restricted to fuel and related spend, issued per driver or vehicle, with every transaction reported back to a central account.

The mechanics: a business applies with its ABN, cards are issued to nominated drivers or vehicles (sometimes both, depending on the provider), and each purchase at the pump is authorised with a PIN and logged against that card.

Many fuel cards let a business choose between a Vehicle Only card, a Driver Only card, or a combined Vehicle and Driver card, which controls who’s allowed to use it.

At the end of the billing cycle, the business gets one consolidated, GST-itemised statement instead of individual receipts from however many fill-ups happened that month.