The new fuel card, jointly launched by Mobil New Zealand and taxi billing solution provider TaxiCharge, was piloted at Wellington Combined Taxis earlier this year and is now being offered to all the fleet’s 530 drivers. The new card is the first of its kind to combine fuel discounts with fare factoring, which guarantees drivers on-the-spot payment for fares.
The Mobil/TaxiCharge fuel card is optional, has no transaction or card fees and, by channeling fuel payments through individual driver accounts, simplifies the payment process.
Mobil Commercial Business Manager Peter Retimanu says the card is designed to reduce administration overheads and operating costs in the taxi industry. “While there’s a huge variety of fuel cards in the market, this is the first to offer significant fuel discounts and the ability for drivers to get paid right away.”
Mark Lines, Chief Executive of Auckland-based TaxiCharge, expects the card to be available over time to 2500 taxis covered by 25 partner taxi companies. It will trim paperwork and fuel costs for drivers, who typically operate as one-person businesses.
Dave Clyma, Chairman of Wellington Combined Taxis says the trade discount on fuel offered by the joint card will give drivers a competitive edge.
The card runs on the TaxiCharge Payment Platform (TPP), a cloud-based software solution developed and maintained for TaxiCharge by streamline, a back-office automation provider headquartered in Newmarket, Auckland. Launched in 2010, TPP acts as a factoring platform and accounting package, automating the processing of more than 250,000 taxi transactions per month.
Streamline Chief Executive Officer Craig Pellett says integrating TPP with Mobil’s billing engine is a textbook example of transforming complexity into simplicity. “It knits together driver, taxi company, billing solution provider and fuel vendor, with benefits for all parties and ongoing efficiencies end-to-end,” he says.
About Streamline:
Streamline is the back office, sorted. We automate repetitive business functions of all kinds, harnessing intelligent and customisable workflow technologies to unlock real efficiencies for our customers. Delivered over the cloud, streamline solutions boosts productivity, cut error rates and slash the costs of compliance. Streamline was established in 2004 and is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand.
