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Paul Barker's blog: 18 November 2013 - Allstar's parent firm says it's learned from the past
Date: 18 November 2013
It was interesting to have a candid interview with the MD of Fleetcor, Allstar's parent firm.
Callum Gibson joined Fleetcor slap bang in the middle of the troubles Allstar was having a year ago, with first an IT migration meaning customers couldn't access the paperwork they needed, and then the introduction of the transaction fee that Gibson admitted could certainly have been handled better.
He was open and honest that mistakes were made, and claimed the company has learned lessons. It will be interesting to see how the firm's communication improves going forward.
He says the fee was brought in to help fund a range of new advancements that will more than cover the transaction charge in terms of benefit to customers, and maybe if they and known about things like the chip and pin partnership with Visa that Gibson says will cut fraud, there wouldn't have been quite the uproar.
But looking to the future, there are plenty of changes coming with Allstar that imply the fuel card market could be set for an interesting 2014.
As Gibson pointed out, there's no cost to change from one supplier to another, so it's time for Allstar to reward its customers for staying loyal to the brand.
The acquisition of fleet servicing data specialist Epyx by Allstar's owner is another interesting move that opens up new possibilities.
All parties are tight-lipped at this stage, but it will be one to watch in the future.
