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New card locking tool helps prevent fuel fraud

May 29, 2024

Comdata’s OneClick can help fleets reduce their fraud vulnerabilities by locking cards until needed.

Fleets are always facing financial threats by bad actors. With the rise of cashless transactions, fuel card fraud is more likely than ever.

To better protect against fraud, Comdata released a new card-locking solution: OneClick. When using this tool, fleets’ cards are usable only for a few minutes after a driver touches the unlock button.

“OneClick serves as an added layer of protection in our suite of fraud protection solutions enabling fleets to fight the unfortunate trend of fuel fraud,” Randy Morgan, Comdata president, said. “Fleets of any sizes and types can have an additional safeguard against fuel theft at the click of a button.”

The challenge of fraud

For fleets, fuel theft and fraud can be a significant risk to profitability.

Organizations worldwide lose roughly 5% of their annual revenues to fraud, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. According to a fraud report by Shell, over half of U.S. fleet managers think fraud relating to fuel cards is a big issue.

Card skimming, where fraudsters use covert devices to capture card information at any point of sale, leaves every fleet at risk.

“Unfortunately, the fraudsters are getting more and more sophisticated, with their skimming technology being 80-90% of most of the fraud we see in the market,” Steve DeMelis, VP of product for Comdata’s parent company Corpay, told FleetOwner. “It’s an always present thing.”

Fleet managers can combat fraud by keeping a keen eye on expenditure anomalies and reducing opportunities for fraudulent transactions.

“Leverage the technology and the control that are available to you. Don’t always rely on just your drivers being aware; a lot of the fraud happening today is invisible to them, they’re just tapping a card at the pump and that is immediately getting sent up to a fraud ring somewhere.”

What does it do?

OneClick locks a card until the fleet indicates that the card is ready to be used.

With a single button—hence the name, OneClick—drivers and fleet managers can instantly unlock the card for a specified period of time.

“Once they say that it’s ready to be used, that card will unlock for a certain period of time, be it five minutes, 30 minutes, it’s up to the fleet,” Steve DeMelis, VP of product for Comdata’s parent company Corpay, told FleetOwner. “Once that [period] expires, the card will go immediately back to a locked state to protect from anyone skimming it or stealing it, etc.”

Reduce opportunities for fraud

By locking unused fuel cards, OneClick minimizes fraud vulnerability.

“Realistically, a fuel card is used very few times a day, simply when they need to fill up … Maybe here and there for something like maintenance or a truck wash,” DeMelis told FleetOwner. “But, in reality, it’s used for a very short amount of the 24 hours that we have.

“Something like OneClick is very simplistic in its functionality: it’s a card lock at the end of the day. But we have now reduced 24 hours of potential exposure."

How does it work?

Comdata offers OneClick as a standalone product for interested fleets. The tool is available on the company’s app and through an API for in-house solutions.

“We have it in our own app Driven for Comdata,” DeMelis said. If a fleet turns it on, “their drivers will start seeing a big button in there that says ‘I’m ready to fuel.’ Once they click it, we’ll unlock it.”

If fleets use the app, their driver adds their fuel card through a secure process. Once the fleet turns on the OneClick control, that card will immediately become locked and the driver will start seeing the tool’s unlock button.

Comdata is also developing live alerts for fleet managers and drivers using the tool.

“We’re going to alert the fleet and say ‘Hey, someone’s trying to use your card. It’s locked from a purchase right now. Do you want to block that card? Do you want to report it stolen?’” DeMelis said.

About the Author

Jeremy Wolfe | Editor

Editor Jeremy Wolfe joined the FleetOwner team in February 2024. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with majors in English and Philosophy. He previously served as Editor for Endeavor Business Media's Water Group publications.