POPULAR WORDS

October 23, 2009

A new fuel card backed by American Express promises to save small and medium fleet operators about 2 percent on diesel purchases.

American Express has teamed with BP to offer the corporate card, which is claimed to be the only scheme in Australia offering incentives including gift cards to spend in store and discounts on Qantas travel.

Speaking at the launch of the service in Sydney yesterday, BP Vice President for Wholesale, Reseller and Retail Dean Salter says the partnership between the two companies is designed to help companies through the tough times.

“This innovative card offers meaningful savings to thousands of small and medium sized businesses,” Salter says.

“Companies with an annual turnover from $2 [million] to $200 million that rely on road transport will benefit the most from this exciting new partnership."

Senior Vice President of Global Commercial Card at American Express, Lisa Vehrenkamp, says the savings will be considerable for some operators.

“Our average fleet customer spends about $150,000 at BP each year,” she says.

“With the new scheme these customers will save about $3000 each year [on fuel purchases].”

The new corporate card is available immediately and all existing BP and American Express customers will benefit from the scheme.