FMCA TCS Fuel Card

[wildebill308]

I haven't been able to figure out how they can give such big discounts when prices are so low. I did some Googling and found this from Jul 2, 2018. 

http://blog.opisnet.com/retail-gasoline-diesel-prices-spring-2018

This gives you an idea of the margins stations run on.

This will  help you understand the terminology in the charts and articles.

http://blog.opisnet.com/wholesale-rack-fuel-pricing-essentials

It would be interesting to know what stations Ken got the big discounts.

Bill

[jsymmes]

TCS vs TSD?  Isn't it nice to have a choice.  If you are happy with your checking account being debited (ACH) or you prefer going on your computer and funding your TCS card which takes about 30 secs, you have a choice.  My choice is the TCS card for now.

I purchased 112 gals. and saved $0.36/gal for a total of $40.00.  Works for me.  Thanks FMCA for helping me purchase fuel at a discount!

Not everyone drives a Ford...

[richard5933]

9 hours ago, JSYMMES said:

TCS vs TSD?  Isn't it nice to have a choice.  If you are happy with your checking account being debited (ACH) or you prefer going on your computer and funding your TCS card which takes about 30 secs, you have a choice.  My choice is the TCS card for now.

I purchased 112 gals. and saved $0.36/gal for a total of $40.00.  Works for me.  Thanks FMCA for helping me purchase fuel at a discount!

Not everyone drives a Ford...

Please explain how you managed to fund the TCS card in about 30 seconds. The last time I tried it the process involved multiple emails and quite a bit of time maneuvering through the process for the bank to send the money. Have they finally streamlined things?

[jsymmes]

We use PNC Bank.  When I logged into "PNC Online Banking" the first time I set up the procedure (one time) for adding funds to our TCS Account.  Now when I log on, I simply click on "Pay Bills" tab and up pops the previously set up TCS account.  I simply enter a dollar amount and the date to transfer that amount.  Hit "Enter" and I am finished.

You may want to work with your bank to set up this type of transfer so you can just enter an amount/date and hit "Enter" to complete the transfer.

Edited August 11, 2020 by JSYMMES

[wayne77590]

I only have the TSD card.  Most banks will let you set up a separate account, mine does. I populate that account with say $500 and set up an automatic withdrawal. Should some one hack the will only get the left overs of the $500.  When on the road and I fill up a couple times I just log into my back account and transfer more into that separate account.

So simple.

[richard5933]

47 minutes ago, wayne77590 said:

I only have the TSD card.  Most banks will let you set up a separate account, mine does. I populate that account with say $500 and set up an automatic withdrawal. Should some one hack the will only get the left overs of the $500.  When on the road and I fill up a couple times I just log into my back account and transfer more into that separate account.

So simple.

That makes sense for the TSD card which draws money after you make the purchase. The TCS card done on the FMCA program is a pre-pay card, and you need to manually fund the card before using it. From what I can see, the TCS app still has no provision for easily adding funds.

 

3 hours ago, JSYMMES said:

We use PNC Bank.  When I logged into "PNC Online Banking" the first time I set up the procedure (one time) for adding funds to our TCS Account.  Now when I log on, I simply click on "Pay Bills" tab and up pops the previously set up TCS account.  I simply enter a dollar amount and the date to transfer that amount.  Hit "Enter" and I am finished.

You may want to work with your bank to set up this type of transfer so you can just enter an amount/date and hit "Enter" to complete the transfer.

I tried this when I first got the TCS card. We bank at Associated Bank, and they are not set up to do the direct bill pay per the TCS instructions. That seems to be available at our bank only for commercial customers. The only way I was able to make it work was to use the 'Send Money With Zelle' function, and this involved a few emails to TCS and at least a day of waiting for confirmation. Not what I would call automated by any means. I still have the TCS card with a few hundred on it, but it's really only there for an emergency payment card when all else fails.