Cardlink Launches First Card Covering Both Traditional Fuel And Electric

New Zealand’s first multi-brand fleet card covering both traditional fuel and EV vehicles has just been launched by innovative payments company, CardLink.

Called CardSmart +Electric, it allows businesses to pay for everything vehicle-related on one card, whatever the makeup of their fleets. “We have been, and continue to be, a fleet partner to our clients and our updated product suite continues to reflect what the market asks for. As we keep innovating our payment and analytics solutions, and with more comprehensive green energy programs on the horizon, together with our clients we will reinvent the sector to be more versatile and sustainable,” said Sam Steel, Managing Director at FLEETCOR Australia and New Zealand.

CardLink product director Mike Clentworth said: “With EVs now making up more than a third of new car sales and becoming a growing part of many fleets, it made sense to expand the CardSmart offering to include electric charging.

“We have recently partnered with NZ EV charging platform, OpenLoop, owned by Counties Energy, which has 39 charging locations around the country. Combine that with our existing ChargeNet relationship, and our network has more than 360 EV charge points offering nationwide coverage and a growing number of super-fast chargers.

“With our one easy CardSmart +Electric card and its companion fob, you tap the charge point and away you go. And, if you want petrol, diesel, or auto equipment, you simply swipe through at the point of sale, and everything is paid for on one card with that data captured for the company’s records. We offer the only fleet card that covers both ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) and electric vehicles.”

Clentworth also said: “A CardLink survey last year showed 42% of our customers either had or were thinking of adding EVs to their fleets. 

“Many organisations, especially the bigger corporate, have sustainability goals they need to meet, including becoming carbon neutral by 2030, and over the last eight years our ecoDRIVE programme, a flexible opt-in carbon offsetting initiative, has made it easy for organisations to begin this transition of contributing to a greener future. CardSmart +Electric enables businesses to understand all the details about their EVs, and monitor associated expenses, which is a great help in developing a case to buy more EVs for their fleets. We provide the same data sets for EVs as we do for petrol and diesel vehicles.

“Using a single platform to manage fuel payment records and provide data analytics for fleet optimisation provides organisations of any size with savings, transparency and simplicity, as well as useful admin and accounting insights,” said Clentworth.

After almost 40 years of operating in New Zealand, CardLink now services more than 150,000 cards throughout New Zealand, with customers ranging from small to medium-sized businesses, through to large-scale national organisations.

Counties Energy Group Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer Moonis Vegdani said: “There are great synergies between OpenLoop and CardLink with both companies focused on bringing creative and innovative fuelling options to drivers. Our aim for OpenLoop is to provide drivers with an easy path to decarbonisation through a smooth transition to electric vehicles across different electric vehicle charging sites and payment options. As we continue to expand our charging network around the country, our partnership with CardLink gives customers nationwide round-the-clock access to whatever type of fuel they need.”

EV statistics: Five years ago, just over 1% of all new cars registered in NZ were electric. By 2022, the market share of battery electric and plug-in hybrids was almost 20%, with petrol-only cars declining by the same amount. This year, EV market share has grown to 27%, helped by incentives to go electric. There are now almost 89,000 EVs on the road in NZ, and more than half of vehicle sales are expected to be electric by the end of this decade.

About CardLink: CardLink is part of FLEETCOR, a global leader in business payments. We expanded from fuel card management into full fleet solutions after seeing a need to free modern fleets to be adaptable and efficient. Our extensive partner network drives our customers’ success, which is why our ever-growing network features some of the most iconic brand names in the region and covers New Zealand’s largest fleet transport routes. www.cardsmart.co.nz/electric

About Counties Energy: Counties Energy is a multi-market energy services company in New Zealand. Its core business is in providing electricity distribution network services in the southern Auckland and northern Waikato regions, which it has done for nearly 100 years. Counties Energy has a portfolio of investments in innovative energy solutions that contribute towards Aotearoa New Zealand’s decarbonisation goals and has developed an end-to-end e-mobility software platform and related mobile app - OpenLoop. www.countiesenergy.co.nz www.openloop.co.nz.

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