Fairland, South Africa -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/05/2013 -- South African companies that own vehicles or operate fleets need to work proactively with their card issuer and implement strong preventative measures to avoid becoming the victims of petrol card fraud, which remains a major concern for businesses in the country.
According to Neil Naidoo, WesBank Fleet Assistant General Manager, South Africa’s leading asset-based financial solutions provider, most petrol card issuers should have systems in place to identify the irregular use of petrol cards on behalf of clients.
For example, as soon as a transaction takes place, the WesBank Early Warning Detection System identifies if the usage is irregular. If this is the case, we advise the client to investigate the incident and inform us of the outcome as soon as possible.
“In addition, monthly risk reports and discussions on these findings allow for clients to conduct a more thorough review to identify unusual spending patterns.”
However, Neil advises that companies should also implement proactive measures to detect or even prevent petrol card fraud.
These include:
- When the cards are given to the drivers, let them sign for it.
- Fuel cards should be locked away in a safe when not in use. Make sure that nobody has access to
the cards except for the delegated person.
- Drivers must hand in all purchase slips and the fuel card to a delegated person when the vehicle
is returned.
- Make sure the correct card is given to the vehicle it has been assigned to.
- Give attention to the early warning reports sent out by the fraud departments.
- Contact the bank immediately if fraud is detected or suspected.
About Wesbank
WesBank has over 40 years of experience in asset and vehicle finance. As a leading asset-based finance provider in South Africa, we finance new and used vehicles for personal use, both privately and through dealerships, as well as leisure vehicles, and also offer expert advice and professional service to our clients.
Our other main focus is providing quality asset finance and fleet management solutions for a number of market sectors. WesBank’s asset finance services cover aviation finance, agri finance, commercial vehicle finance, company vehicles, plant equipment, office equipment, public sector finance and franchise finance. In addition, we offer personal insurance, vehicle insurance, personal loans as well as business insurance, and we are perfectly placed to structure a finance deal to suit your needs.
WesBank is a division of FirstRand Bank Limited, which in turn, is part of the FirstRand Group. FirstRand is South Africa's most innovative Bank Assurance Group with interests in Retail and Merchant Banking, Life Assurance, Financial Planning and Medical Schemes.