Safety and Fraud Prevention with Fuel Cards

Fuel cards are a convenient way for businesses to manage fuel purchases, track expenses, and simplify fleet operations. Because they play such an important role in day-to-day operations, it’s important to understand how to prevent misuse and spot potential fraud.

To protect our fuel cardholders from risk of fraudulent activity, there are standard limits and restrictions our fuel cards come with. As a customer, you have the freedom to customize your account to best suit your business’s needs.

Transaction Limits

Transaction limits are a type of spending control that restricts how many transactions, or swipes of your fuel card, can be made in a given time frame. You can limit transactions at the card level, driver/PIN level, or both. Our standard limit is three (3) transactions per day. Each card swipe counts as a transaction regardless of whether you fuel or not.

Spending Limits

Spending limits are a type of spending control that restricts the dollar/purchase amount that can be made in a given time frame. You can place daily or monthly dollar limits at the card level and/or the driver/PIN level. Our standard dollar limits are $750/day or $3,000/month – these do not correlate to your account credit line. If your card reaches either of these limits, it may decline. If so, you can contact us for further assistance.

State Restrictions

You can restrict the use of your cards to one state or multiple states. State restrictions can apply to the entire account or just for individual cards. The standard default states are set on each account based on your business’s location. You should limit use in high fraud states by individual card or trip-by-trip basis. This includes FL, TX, AZ, NM, and CA.

How to Prevent Fraud

You can help prevent fraud by setting controls on your cards and setting security rules for your drivers. Start by setting up fraud alerts to help you track suspicious activity. Set limits and control when and how often drivers use their cards. Last but not least, run reports to track usage when you view your transactions and invoices online. You can also follow these tips:

  • Store cards in a secure location and not in plain view.
  • Keep PIN information stored separately from your cards.
  • Don’t share cards or PINs with any unauthorized people.
  • Report lost or stolen cards right away.
  • Report any questionable transactions immediately.
  • Keep an eye on your card during in-store transactions.
  • If the card reader doesn’t look or feel right, don’t use the pump (it may have a skimmer).

Quarles is Quality

At Quarles, helping businesses manage fuel is at the core of what we do. From over 190 commercial fueling locations across the U.S. to flexible fuel card programs, we’re here to provide you reliable access and savings to the quality fuel you need every day.

If you have any questions or concerns about our fleet fueling products and services, call us at 877-444-3835 and one of our representatives will be happy to assist you.