The Best Prepaid Fuel Cards

Prepaid fuel cards are an excellent way for owners of smaller fleets to cap spending and cut down paperwork. Like a debit card or gift card, you load them up with funds and allow your drivers to spend on fuel within an allocated budget, leaving no surprises at the end of the month.

According to the results from our recent industry deep dive, the best prepaid fuel card currently available is Shell. It can be used at over 15,000 US gas stations, has no monthly upfront cost, and you won’t incur the additional fees enforced by the likes of Brink, which will charge you for inactivity. Here’s our top four:

In this article, we’ll quickly compare our chosen favorites before diving into detailed reviews of each of our prepaid fuel card recommendations.

Further down the page, we also discuss alternatives to prepaid cards as part of our extensive buying guide on what the benefits of going prepaid are, what the different types of prepaid card look like and just how we test each card out.

Individual Reviews of Prepaid Fuel Cards

1. Shell Refillable Card: Best for Simplicity

If you’re curious about its other cards – which include discounts at Jiffy lube – check out our review of Shell fleet cards.

2. Brink’s Prepaid Mastercard: Best for Nationwide Coverage

Brink’s Prepaid Mastercard Fees

Unlike Shell’s refillable gift card, there’s a whole list of fees to be aware of with Brink’s prepaid card. The reason is you’re getting a lot more financial services in return for your investment. Brink’s card is a lot more formal, and lets you withdraw from ATMs, for instance. You can find the entire list of Brink’s prepaid Mastercard fees here.

Keep your eyes on how often you use this card because there’s a $5.95 inactivity fee that applies per month if there are funds on your card but you ignore it for 90 days. If you don’t really need to use the card for a while, you can avoid this fee by making a balance inquiry (which costs 50¢ at an ATM or it’s free online).

3. Bento for Business: Best for Fuel Expenses Management

4. ARCO PumpPASS: Best for Cheap Fuel

ARCO PumpPASS Prepaid Amounts

You can load $10, $15, $20, $25, $50 or $100 onto your ARCO prepaid gas card. The maximum amount is much lower for ARCO’s gift card than Shell’s (which has an upper limit of $300).

It costs nothing to order an ARCO prepaid gas card online. You only have to pay for postage, which is currently $2.95 from USPS First Class or $26.95 UPS Next Day.

To find out more about ARCO’s range of gas cards, check out our dedicated overview.

Buying Guide: Prepaid Fuel Cards

What are the advantages of prepaid gas cards?

• Less paperwork: With prepaid cards, you can avoid the hassle and sometimes extensive process of applying for a traditional credit card or even applying for a regular gas card. There are generally no credit checks, meaning business owners can activate and use these cards without much administrative burden, allowing them to spend on fuel without much delay.
• Easier budgeting: By going prepaid, you can set clear budgets for fuel expenses since the funds must be loaded onto the card before any purchases are made. This helps businesses avoid overspending and manage finances more effectively through this straightforward approach to controlling costs. Many cards come without ongoing fees, too.
• Digitize expense tracking: Usually, prepaid gas cards come with integrated digital tools that automatically track and categorize fuel expenditures. This reduces the risk of errors and potentially saves time on accounting going forward. Some more advanced software with sufficient analytical tools may even help a business optimize its spending patterns.
• Discounts on fuel: Many prepaid gas cards offer discounts at the pump. Saving money on fuel costs will always appeal to business fleet owners and these discounts will be a particularly fruitful way to cut expenses for those firms with high fuel consumption.
• Earn cashback: Alongside discounts, prepaid fuel cards often offer cashback on purchases. This can accumulate over time and provide another avenue of cost-cutting or reinvestment to a business.
• Other rewards: There are often other rewards from using prepaid fuel cards such as points that can be redeemed for goods or services or discounts on vehicle maintenance. Some bonuses are applied without regular card use, such as via referral incentives or through sign-up perks.

If this sounds like it’ll be the best option for you and your drivers, just request fuel card quotes directly through Expert Market.

The Different Types of Prepaid Fuel Cards Explained

When it comes to prepaid fuel card options, you’ll likely be choosing between two different types of fuel card:

• Prepaid gift cards – such as the Shell Refillable Card and ARCO PumpPASS
• Prepaid expenses management cards – such as Brink’s Prepaid Mastercard and Bento for Business

The route you take depends on what you want from your card. Do you want to benefit from cash prices at specific gas stations? Would you like greater control over your expenses in general? Are you happy to pay a monthly subscription fee for greater spending control and insight, or would you rather go for something cheap and simple?

Let’s explore the key differences between these two types of card:

Types of Prepaid Fuel Cards: Prepaid Gas Gift Cards vs Expenses Management Cards

Alternatives to Prepaid Fuel Cards: Credit Fuel Cards

While prepaid fuel cards have many positives, a major potential drawback is that they require upfront funding. They generally have limited acceptance at certain gas stations or gas station networks too, which can be inconvenient for businesses operating in certain parts of the country. Plus, there are not always as lucrative rewards and benefits compared to credit-based fuel cards, such as loyalty points or cashback opportunities. And, of course, you are generally limited to fuel purchases only unlike other some credit-based fuel cards or business credit cards which are accepted almost anywhere. 

An alternative option is purchasing a traditional fuel card. These cards act like credit cards and tend to be more widely accepted than prepaid fuel cards. They can help build your credit history when used responsibly too, and if you’re not phased by a little accounting, you’ll often get access to expenses report creation tools that allow even greater control of your fuel finances.

A potential drawback of credit fuel cards is that savings are realized later on, rather than directly at the pump as with a prepaid card. Instead, cashback will be added to your account around one month after the payment period. Most of these cards require a monthly fee to be used too, while there is the risk of accumulating debt, potentially worsened by high interest rates should you not pay back the costs at the end of each month. All of this may not be preferable to businesses with tighter profit margins.

But for businesses that don’t mind waiting on their savings and can budget spending responsibly, credit fuel cards make a lot of sense for US fleets. Below you can click through our five favorite credit fuel card options or read about them in greater detail on our Best Fleet Fuel Cards page.

How We Rank Prepaid Fuel Cards

We tested 17 major US fuel cards and evaluated whether they support pre-paid functionality alongside their fees, accepted fuel types, network coverage, perks, convenience, expense management, security measures, customer support, and more.

Through this rigorous testing process, we have scored and detailed information about all 17 cards across six main categories of investigation and 43 subcategories to provide a thorough overview of the benefits and downsides of each prepaid fuel card.