For decades, fleet fuel spend has run through closed-loop systems: fuel cards accepted at a defined network of forecourts, with reconciled invoices issued on a single invoice. Open loop fleet payments work differently. Cards issued on global schemes such as Visa or Mastercard can be used at any accepting merchant, in any market, for fuel, charging, parking or tolls. The model has existed for years. What has changed is that EV adoption is now removing the choice.
Most public charging infrastructure was never built around fuel cards. As electric vehicles take a growing share of fleet energy spend, operators are being pushed towards open-loop alternatives, whether they plan for it or not. The question for fleet managers is no longer whether to prepare, but how quickly.
Why fuel cards stop at the charge point
Closed loop was built for forecourts
Closed-loop fuel cards solved a specific problem: controlled fuel purchasing across a known network of petrol stations, with pump-level data and consolidated billing. Within that world, they work well.
Public EV charging grew up outside that world. Charge point operators built their own apps, RFID tags and subscription models, and very few integrated legacy fuel card networks. A mixed fleet today can find itself running fuel cards for diesel, three charging apps for electric, and personal expense claims filling the gaps. Spend visibility fragments exactly when energy costs need the closest scrutiny.
Fleet electrification is accelerating the collision
This would matter less if electrification were slow. It is not. Corporate fleets account for around 60% of new car registrations in Europe, and over 1.2 million new battery electric vehicles were registered across European markets in the first half of 2026, with battery electric vehicles taking an estimated 27.4% EU market share in June 2026. The European Commission’s proposed Clean Corporate Vehicles Regulation would add binding zero-emission targets for large corporate fleets from 2030, and national tax systems are being reshaped to push company cars electric.
Every one of those vehicles shifts a share of energy spend away from the forecourt and onto payment rails the traditional fuel card cannot reach.
Regulation is forcing open loop fleet payments
AFIR: tap to charge across the EU
The EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), applicable since 13 April 2024, requires new public DC chargers of 50 kW and above to accept ad hoc contactless card payment, with no subscription or app required. Existing fast chargers on the core European road network must be retrofitted by 1 January 2027, and pricing must be displayed transparently before a session starts.
The UK got there first
In the UK, the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 require contactless payment on new public charge points of 8kW and above and on existing rapid chargers, alongside payment roaming across networks and 99% reliability standards for rapid charging.
The direction on both sides of the Channel is the same: regulators are mandating that anyone, with any bank card, can pay at any charger. That is open loop by law. Once the infrastructure accepts a tap from any card, the closed network loses its structural lock on fleet spend.
What fleet managers should do now
Audit your energy spend by payment method
Start by mapping how every kilowatt hour and litre is currently paid for: fuel card, charging app, subscription, expense claim. Most mixed fleets discover that a meaningful share of charging spend already sits outside their controlled payment estate, invisible to reconciliation and open to leakage.
Consolidate fuel and charging into one payment layer
The operational goal is a single view of energy spend across diesel and electric, with the same controls fleets expect from fuel cards: vehicle-level validation, real-time visibility and clean reconciliation. Open-loop acceptance provides the reach. The control layer on top decides whether that reach becomes a risk or an advantage.
This is the problem FleetWallet3 is built for: connected fleet payments that give operators one view and one set of controls across fuel, charging and related services, wherever the vehicle pays.
Get ahead of the tipping point
Fleets that wait for their fuel card contract to expire will be reacting to a market that has already moved. See how FleetWallet3 puts fuel and EV charging spend under one set of controls before the 2027 deadlines arrive.
