Businesses all over the world have seen a decrease in interest in cash payments for at least a decade. There are many industries where the digital (cashless) payment option is growing in popularity. The increase in investments from fintech companies can dramatically impact the consumer world. The value of cashless payments has risen to a high of $116.6 billion in the past five years. This rising interest in cashless payments has also impacted the trucking industry and its fleet payment systems. 

Cashless trucking fleet payments provide numerous benefits for both the drivers and the companies that use and track these systems. These payment systems are convenient, improve processes and allow trucking companies to track data as a means of making informed business decisions. Fleet payments that work with a fleet card are quickly becoming the trucking industry standard.

 

Industry advancing technology from WEX Inc. reflects its mastery of truck fleets and payment technology. The company’s fleet payment system gives its clients greater visibility into the fleet’s purchasing decisions and the volume of purchases made through the company’s analytics resources. WEX Inc.’s chief solution is the Electronic Funds Source LLC (EFS) Mastercard Fleet Card. It is a one-card solution for managing fleet fuel payments and for making other business-related purchases needed by contractors and drivers.

Using this EFS Mastercard Fleet Card, drivers and contractors can make two sorts of purchases through a dual network solution. One network allows drivers to make and control their fuel purchases. The other network provides a wide acceptance network, meaning that the Fleet Card can be used for non-fuel purchases, such as emergency repairs, Travel & Entertainment (T&E) expenses and other expenses.

• Universal acceptance: over 10.3 million Mastercard locations

• Current system integration

• Access to large network of maintenance and fuel sites: 575,000 locations

• High-quality purchasing controls

• Merchant Category Codes/Transaction Category Codes (MCC/TCC)

Over-the-road (OTR) fuel cards provide many benefits for truckers and contractors who use them as well as for companies that use them to manage fuel and non-fuel purchases. There are even more benefits provided once a typical OTR fuel card is integrated with OTR reporting and analytics capabilities. Some of these benefits include:

• Keep track of fleet expenses

• Forecast fleet budgets

• Streamline fuel tax reporting

• Track your performance against that of your peers

• Spot purchasing misuse and other anomalies

• Find ways to cut operational costs

1. Use the new, upgraded standards by American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Discover. These companies do not require customers to sign for payments made at a terminal, which will reduce wait times.

2. Provide email and text invoices to make transactions more convenient. Ensure that your payment system allows them to store card information to enable faster future purchases. Manage collection compliance software for optimal transaction.

3. Integrate Google Pay and Apple Pay into your fleet payment system. Mobile payments are projected to reach $282 billion by 2021. By 2022, they are projected to take up one-third of all U.S. electronic payments.

4. Consider your bills. As you probably pay most of your bills online, consider that your customers will likely prefer to pay bills from your company online as well.

5. NFC payments will allow mobile phones and payment terminals to communicate nearby. Payments can be made securely and faster by merely tapping the smart device on the terminal.

6. Email invoices are fast, convenient and can prevent transposition errors and long customer lines.