U.S. Bank will team up with a vehicle maintenance specialty provider within 30 days to allow drivers to use Voyager Fleet Card to authorize, arrange, and pay for vehicle repairs while enroute, Auto Finance News has learned.
“For the Voyager Fleet Card, we are looking to create a partnership … that will allow a workflow between the maintenance locations all across the country and the fleet managers,” John Hardin, U.S. Bank’s global transportation general manager, told Auto Finance News. “We are pretty excited about it.” Hardin declined to offer specifics of the maintenance company’s name.
The new partnership will allow the credit card to be used at those maintenance locations when a driver is enroute and needs a repair, Hardin explained. The maintenance locations “will have a workflow [solution to] be able to bring up the exact specs of the vehicle using the VIN number, and at that point in time, either the workflow will automatically authorize the maintenance to be performed or they will contact the fleet manager to authorize the work,” Hardin said.
“We think it is going to be great innovation for the use of our card, because our card is accepted at maintenance locations currently,” he said. “However, having this workflow from the specialty company really enables the fleet to manage its maintenance in a really effective way, in terms of what maintenance is being done and when on vehicle, and if it is authorized or not.” The specialty maintenance partnership will offer data to fleet managers for a visibility and more control over fleet spend, Hardin said.
The news comes just one week after U.S. Bank inked a deal with ChargePoint, an electric vehicle charging network, to allow its fleet credit card to be used at “tens-of-thousands” of charging points throughout the U.S., according to a company press release. ChargePoint will begin equipping its locations for acceptance immediately and expects the process to be completed over the summer.
ChargePoint offers a broad range of smart networked charging offerings, software solutions, and cloud services to help fleet managers effectively manage electric vehicle fleets, according to the release.
The Voyager Network, owned and operated by U.S. Bank, is one of the largest fleet-fueling and maintenance acceptance networks in the U.S. The Voyager Fleet Card is accepted at more than 320,000 fueling, maintenance, and service locations and used by millions of drivers of fleet cars, trucks, and heavy-duty commercial rigs, according to the release.
