Save On Gas With New MasterCard Easy Savings Fuelman Program
This week MasterCard Worldwide announced a new service for small businesses that offers automatic savings on fuel and maintenance through the addition of the Fuelman Network to the MasterCard Easy SavingsTM program. MasterCard BusinessCard® credit and signature debit cardholders enrolled in the program will now receive savings on fuel and maintenance purchases at more than 16,800 participating locations in the Fuelman Network nationwide.
Climbing fuel prices have seen U.S. gasoline demand decrease. Clearly this indicates that high fuel prices may be draining financial resources from business segments including small businesses which are very susceptible to rising gas and diesel prices. Not surprisingly, recent MasterCard research shows that nearly 70% of small businesses are interested in saving on fuel.
"We recognize that small businesses are some of the hardest hit by increasing fuel costs and are proud to partner with the Fuelman Network to be the first payments company to provide small businesses with automatic savings that help alleviate this burden," said Bruno Perreault, Group Head, Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises, MasterCard Worldwide. "The addition of fuel and maintenance categories to the MasterCard Easy Savings program demonstrates our commitment to continue to provide small businesses with savings in business-relevant categories while also enabling merchants and financial institutions with a unique way to both reach and build loyalty with small businesses."
MasterCard BusinessCard cardholders enrolled in the MasterCard Easy Savings program can now enjoy a one percent (1%) automatic rebate on fuel (gas and diesel) at more than 15,000 gas stations in the Fuelman Network, and a five percent (5%) rebate on all maintenance purchases made at the more than 1,800 participating Fuelman Network maintenance locations across the country.
"With more than 25 years of experience serving small and mid-sized businesses, the Fuelman Network is excited to join the MasterCard Easy Savings program as part of our commitment to providing industry-leading solutions to the business marketplace," said Steve Smith, Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for FleetCor, the parent company to the Fuelman Network. "Small businesses, especially those that provide delivery services or manage fleet vehicles, are spending in the neighborhood of $7,500 per vehicle each year on gas. So, these savings can help facilitate the growth of their business."
You can visit www.easysavings.com to find out more information about the Fuelman Network, including how to locate participating gas stations and maintenance locations. The website provides a Fuelman site locator tool that makes it easy for small businesses to find locations within the Fuelman Network around any U.S. zip code.
According to the website, there is no additional fee at this time to enroll in the network. Since this service is new, there may not be a lot of participating retailers in your area. But I suspect more are to come. When I checked some zip codes in my area, there was a good variety of businesses offering the maintenance rebate, but no participating gas stations. As with anything, your mileage may vary (pun intended!).
What do you think? Leave me a comment.