TCS Fuel Card

[wnytaxman]

I see FMCA is touting a fuel card called TCS. Has anyone had any experience with this fuel card as opposed to the TSD Card? Better, worse or the same?

[757driver]

Originally Posted by wnytaxman

I see FMCA is touting a fuel card called TCS. Has anyone had any experience with this fuel card as opposed to the TSD Card? Better, worse or the same?

From what I have seen on their program it looks worse.

[Tom and Patty]

Just received an email from the FMCA program contact. They sent a PDF to fill out.

Will post an update in the MH -general discussion forum

[Gary.Jones]

Isn't it amazing that after a private corporation decides to include motorcoach owners into their gig, that FMCA introduces a fuel discount card about a month later..... I guess that there was a good reason that they could not come up with that idea 5 years ago.... ---

Notice that Loves does not appear in their list, and TA and Petro, AMBEST, Speedway, Sapp Brothers, Fuel City, and PWI appear on their list (The latter three I have never heard of). Day late and dollar short, in my book.

gary

[mike625]

This on the FAQ

How do I add funds to my card?
Funds can be loaded onto an account by a variety of methods, including Bank Wire, ACH credit or debit, and Western Union. Typically, funds are accessible within 30 minutes of delivery to TCS. Non-guaranteed funds sometimes require a percentage of the fund held in reserve.

There are no setup or startup fees associated with the program.

So it looks like you have to transfer the funds to their account before - depending on the Bank - not sure how long this would take. You could need to plan several days in advance to get the funds transferred or keep a high account balance

[ASU777]

This might be a good way to get better TA/Petro discounts if that is the main/only truck stop chain they align with. Just like TSD seems to have the best Loves prices.

The difference in how you add funds might help comfort those didn't like TSD's automatic EFT drafts out of a checking account. It makes no difference to me.

I see no reason not to collect all three cards including the RV Plus charge card from Good Sam/Pilot. These aren't bureau reporting cards.

[richard5933]

Has anyone received this card and had success funding it?

I'm signed up and will be getting the card in the next few days, but there doesn't seem to be an easy and no-fee method to add funds to the card. I got the acceptance letter and funding instructions. They list an ACH credit as the only method they accept without a fee, but both of my banks say that's it's not possible to do an ACH as a push transaction. According to BMO Harris and Associated, the ACH transaction needs to be initiated by TCS and not by me, so that they pull the money out instead of me pushing it to them. To push the money, my banks call it a wire transfer and want to charge a $30 fee on top of the $10 fee TCS charges to accept it.

Kind of feeling like applying wasn't worth the effort right now, but I'm open to hearing about it if others have had success.

[darjacob]

I have the TSD card and am VERY pleased with it. I would get the FMCA card too but I've never joined FMCA. Isn't it something like $85 per year? What do they give me besides the motor-home magazine (which I already get for $8 per year)? So right off the bat, to get the TCD card I have an $85 annual fee...

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by darjacob

I have the TSD card and am VERY pleased with it. I would get the FMCA card too but I've never joined FMCA. Isn't it something like $85 per year? What do they give me besides the motor-home magazine (which I already get for $8 per year)? So right off the bat, to get the TCD card I have an $85 annual fee...

Different conversation, but if you are weighing membership in FMCA based on the money spent vs money saved, you're missing the bigger picture. We joined FMCA to be part of a group of people who shared similar interests and loved traveling with RVs. We enjoy the discounts, but that wasn't why we joined.

I also have the TSD card, but my question was specific to how to fund the TCS card.

[voltdoc]

Originally Posted by DSBill

This might be a good way to get better TA/Petro discounts if that is the main/only truck stop chain they align with. Just like TSD seems to have the best Loves prices.

Besides Loves, so far I'm seeing pretty good TA discounts with the TSD card too...

[RichnSue]

I signed up and got the TSD card. Our main fuel stop is Speedway around here and the central midwest.

TSD has recently dropped Speedway so, that goes into the CON's along with, you need to pre fund their bank before using the card, if you do not use the card for 90 days you'll get a $10 inactive fee each month of inactivity. PRO's you can call and put the account on hold to prevent the inactive fee

I also have TCS (EFS) and FJ / GS cards, currently using those

[richard5933]

First, I'm talking about the FMCA card here which is issued through TCS. (Not the TSD card)


I did get the card last week, and we finally able to find a way to fund it by using Zelle through my bank's mobile app. Since Zelle can't transmit all the data TCS wants on the transfer, it's necessary to send an email to accounts receivable to let them know about the incoming transfer so they can match it to my card number.


I'm told by someone at TCS that they are working on a more automated method for doing this through Zelle in the next couple of months. That should make it much easier.


Haven't had a chance to use the card yet, but it's funded and ready. I'll report back once I get to make use of it to report discounts.

[757driver]

Originally Posted by RichnSue

I signed up and got the TSD card. Our main fuel stop is Speedway around here and the central midwest.

TSD has recently dropped Speedway so, that goes into the CON's along with, you need to pre fund their bank before using the card, if you do not use the card for 90 days you'll get a $10 inactive fee each month of inactivity. PRO's you can call and put the account on hold to prevent the inactive fee

I also have TCS (EFS) and FJ / GS cards, currently using those

You are confusing two different programs, TSD was never affiliated with Speedway nor do you have to preload a card, and there is no inactive fee.

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by 757driver

You are confusing two different programs, TSD was never affiliated with Speedway nor do you have to preload a card, and there is no inactive fee.

I believe you are correct.

The pre-paid card is the TCS. They are also the ones that had Speedway at one time, but I believe no longer do.