Sainsbury’s Fuel Cards Review: Are They Right for Your Fleet?

The Allstar One gives you access to over 7,700 fuel sites – or, in other words, 90% of stations in the UK (including all major oil brands and supermarket sites).

UK Fuels Fleetone's crowning jewel is Velocity, its account management app. With it, you can restrict what drivers can use their cards to buy, spot suspicious activity, and view customisable transaction reports and usage graphs. Meanwhile, the web invoicing system makes it really easy to claim back your VAT. These features make UK Fuels Fleetone the best fuel card for online management and a good fit for small businesses that lack a dedicated accounting or operational team.

This card program also comes with free access to UK Fuels' route planning app, and the option to plump for additional tie-in products Kinesis Telematics and Velos MasterCard.

UK Fuels Fleetone's guarantees discounts of up to 10 pence per litre and it's the only business fuel card deal to offer both retail and commercial prices on one card, enabling you to benefit from discounted, wholesale prices for diesel across the UK Fuels network. Also, you won't have to pay any surcharges – all you'll pay for is the petrol.

That said, its coverage could be better: it currently allows you to buy petrol in over 4,100 filling stations – namely Texaco, Jet, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and of course UK Fuels – way less than competitors such as The Fuel Store Card (8,730) and Allstar One (7,700).

Texaco Fastfuel can be used at around 2,900 UK filling stations, including all Tesco, Morrisons, and Sainsbury's forecourts, the UK Fuels network and over 750 Texaco stations, as well as selected BP sites. Their heavy presence in England and Wales makes it a solid choice for localised business owners who operate in these areas, such as taxi firms and delivery companies, since they don't depend on long-distance travel for their activity.

On the admin side of things, you'll get comprehensive business fuel management reporting, plus e-billing and HMRC-approved invoices. It also enables you to set limits on what your drivers can buy, right down to the types of fuel.

Importantly, Texaco Fastfuel uses a commercial pricing system. This means that you'll benefit from wholesale-related deals for diesel and unleaded, with prices that Texaco fixes each week.

Texaco Fastfuel doesn't charge account fees. Plus, you can collect Tesco Clubboard points when using Tesco forecourts and won't have to pay any transaction fees if you gas up on Texaco sites. It's worth noting that transaction fees are charged if you buy fuel at the card's partnered BP locations.

Unfortunately, its savings of up to 10p per litre puts it in line with most of its competitors, but its coverage is a major setback, since it's accepted in way less stations than The Fuel Store Card (8,700) and Allstar One (7,700).

With access to over 8,700 UK stations, the Fuel Store Card has one of the most extensive coverages among the providers we researched, but the number of stations actually available to you will depend on the payment scheme you choose. The plentiful options of those schemes are a key asset of the company, but they're bespoke so you'll need to contact the provider to know what's in store for you.

Continuing the simplicity long after the setup, with the Fuel Store Card you'll benefit from fixed weekly prices, helping you to budget and better manage the businesses cash flow. You'll also receive a single, HMRC-approved VAT invoice at regular intervals, and get 24/7 instant access to transaction and fuel reporting. You can also restrict what your drivers can and can't buy with these cards. And don't forget – these cards offer 14 days of free credit. Not a bad deal!

The Fuel Store Card doesn't charge account fees nor transaction fees. It does charge a one-off bespoke setup fee when you sign up, but apart from that, you'll also just pay for the fuel you use. However, if you’re drawing less than 300 litres of fuel a month, you’ll be hit with a £10 minimum usage fee.