John Paul Hampstead
5 min read
Piston is making waves with its cardless, intelligent approach to fuel payments. Founded by seasoned fleet operators Vikram Sekhon and Shivam Shah, Piston has secured a total of $7.5 million in funding, with the latest seed round led by Spark Capital. This financial boost is instrumental for Piston, enabling it to scale operations and further expand its network of independent gas stations and commercial fleets across the United States.
“I was a fleet operator who was operating 120–250 trucks that were being dispatched every day,” Sekhon said. “Fueling was a major headache for us, mostly on the fraud side of things. We tried all of the cards, from traditional credit business cards to legacy fuel cards. Fraud was constant, fees were unpredictable, and we were spending a ton of time on admin reconciliation.”
Piston addresses a critical need in the fleet payments industry: eliminating fraud and excessive costs associated with traditional fuel cards. As Sekhon explained, “Fuel was our second-largest expense after payroll, and the most chaotic to manage.” Through their firsthand experiences managing fleets, Sekhon and Shah identified significant inefficiencies in existing fuel payment systems, especially concerning card fraud and retail price markups.
Piston’s solution promises to change the game. Instead of relying on traditional physical cards, Piston utilizes a secure, app-generated QR code system. This cardless approach significantly reduces fraud by tying each transaction to specific details, including vehicle, time, location, and fuel type. Drivers scan the QR code at the pump, ensuring real-time payment confirmation and transparency for fleet managers who can immediately monitor transactions. This innovation not only cuts down administrative efforts but also addresses fraudulent activities, which previously accounted for over 5% of total fuel spend, according to Sekhon.
Further, no credit card companies or banks are involved in the transaction—the payments to the fuel station come from Piston, who then invoices the fleet. This reduces latency in the transaction, allowing fleet managers to see fuel spend instantly, instead of waiting for batched transactions to be reported by a bank or credit card during the settlement or clearing process.
(Image: Piston)
The flexibility of Piston’s platform extends beyond its core technology, allowing fleet owners to establish customized business rules tailored to their specific operational needs. Fleet managers can determine spending limits, set restrictions on purchase types, and control the timing and location of fuel transactions. For example, businesses often cap individual transactions to $200 and restrict purchases exclusively to fuel, minimizing the risk of unauthorized expenses such as snacks or cash back. This level of control significantly reduces administrative burdens and ensures that fuel spend is aligned with company policies. If exceptions are necessary, drivers can send exception requests, which are routed directly to the fleet manager through a push notification, facilitating real-time decision-making and oversight.
