Trucking fleet card fintech AtoB jumped to Mastercard from Visa last month as part of its strategy to compete with Wex and Fleetcor Technologies in offering card services to trucking clients.
AtoB CEO Vignan Velivela views Mastercard’s network as superior in the startup’s trucking industry sweet spot, he said in an interview, after announcing the new exclusive commercial credit card tie to that network in a Monday press release.
“Mastercard particularly has been in fleet payments for over 25 years, unlike Visa, which has been only for maybe like five-plus years,” Velivela said.
AtoB has raised $112 million in equity capital, including from big-name early-stage investors that include Bloomberg Beta, Y Combinator and General Catalyst. The company has been developing a platform for servicing trucking companies through brokers and directly to customers, the CEO said.
The San Francisco-based fintech, founded in 2020, counts Uber Freight as a client so far, but Velivela wasn’t willing to name others, except to say it has made inroads with rental car and logistics companies. The release also named J & L Line Services as a customer.
AtoB is targeting companies with fleets of all sizes, Velivela said in the interview. Nonetheless, the four-year-old startup is still getting rolling.
“We’ve been mostly in (the) testing and development phase before this,” Velivela said. “We were on Visa, so now we are expanding with Mastercard.”
Companies that manage truck fleets have particular credit and debit card needs. They aim to optimize fleet fuel use, restrict fuel and non-fuel purchases by drivers and respond to changes on the road, the release noted.
AtoB is setting its sights high in taking on Wex and Fleetcor, which have long dominated the fuel card business. Velivela argues his company will deliver a faster, more efficient experience, by way of Mastercard’s instant money transfer system, generally providing payments on a real-time basis.
“We are using advanced routing technology, better fuel-optimizing software, to fundamentally improve the fuel efficiency,” Velivela said, without providing specifics as to how much savings his company might provide over rivals.
AtoB will also tap Mastercard to offer customers cybersecurity, perks and discounts, according to the release.
“We will leverage our expertise, technology, and innovative thinking to enhance AtoB’s fuel card program and deliver innovative payment experiences that will unlock more value for operators and drivers alike,” said Mastercard Executive Vice President Sherri Haymond said in the release.
