Open-Loop fleet cards: the future of mobility spend control

16 January 2026

4 min read

Managing a modern fleet means managing a modern mix of expenses—EV charging, fuel for hybrids, tolls, parking, maintenance, and more—and payment is often where complexity quietly piles up. ODOS was created to change that, bringing one of the first commercial open-loop card proposals for fleet mobility management in Italy and Europe, built on Visa Fleet 2.0 to combine broad acceptance with real governance.

Open-loop vs closed-loop: a simple starting point

Think of a payment “loop” as the circuit a transaction travels on to go from your company to the merchant. In a closed-loop system, that circuit is owned by one provider and works only inside its ecosystem—like a badge that opens only one building.
In an open-loop system, the transaction runs on a widely accepted card network (such as Visa), so a card issued by one institution can be used at any merchant connected to that same network.

This difference sounds technical, but it has very practical consequences for daily fleet operations. Closed-loop models can force drivers and fleet teams to adapt to the limits of the network, while open-loop models are designed to adapt to the real world—across routes, cities, and suppliers.

What typically happens with closed-loop fleet payments

Closed-loop systems are often introduced with the promise of control, but they tend to create fragmentation at scale. Drivers end up juggling separate cards for separate services or networks, while Finance teams reconcile spend scattered across multiple systems.
Acceptance is also structurally limited: if a card only works inside the issuer’s network, it can’t support every journey—especially for fleets that travel across regions, operate mixed routes, or rely on different suppliers.

Then there’s the data problem. Closed-loop environments often produce siloed payment information, with no unified reporting and no real-time intelligence on total mobility spend.
That typically translates into manual reconciliation, delays, errors, audit friction, and incomplete VAT data—exactly the type of back-office load that slows down an energy transition that should be accelerating.

What open-loop changes for fleets (and why it matters)

Open-loop flips the logic: instead of asking the fleet to fit the payment network, it uses a widely accepted payment network and then adds fleet-grade rules on top. ODOS, powered by Visa Fleet 2.0, is designed around this principle—an open payment layer that enables, controls, and reports mobility expenses in one place.

Here’s what fleets gain when they move from closed-loop to open-loop:

Broader acceptance, less friction: With open-loop acceptance via Visa Fleet 2.0, ODOS allows drivers to pay wherever Visa is accepted—across EV charging, fuel stations, parking, tolls, workshops, and more—so daily operations don’t break when a specific network isn’t available.
Consolidation of mobility spend: ODOS centralizes multiple mobility categories into a single payment solution, reducing the need for multiple cards and making spend easier to track end-to-end.
Visibility that scales: When transactions live in a unified payment layer, companies gain a clear and consolidated view of mobility expenses, supporting faster decisions and cleaner reporting.

In short: open-loop gives fleets the freedom to move, while keeping the discipline to manage.

Control without compromise: the “fleet-grade” layer

A common concern with open acceptance is governance: “If it works everywhere, how do we control it?” ODOS addresses that directly with real-time rules and compliance built into every transaction.

According to FLEET220, administrators can set policies by driver—such as spending caps, merchant category restrictions (MCCs), and limits by time or location—so payments stay aligned with company rules without slowing drivers down.

This approach also tackles one of the biggest operational pain points highlighted by closed-loop setups: manual back-office work. Closed-loop systems often lead to manual reconciliation and incomplete tax documentation, whereas ODOS is designed to capture and normalize receipt and VAT data to reduce workload and improve audit readiness.

And there’s a strategic dimension too. ODOS is positioned not only as a payment tool, but as a platform to help companies reduce costs, increase transparency, and cut carbon emissions by bringing mobility spend under unified control.

Why ODOS is a milestone for Italy—and for Europe

ODOS was launched by FLEET220 (a ROUTE220 company and certified B Corp) as a mobility payment solution powered by Visa Fleet 2.0, built in partnership with Enfuce and Cardlay.
FLEET220 describes ODOS as among the first commercial solutions in Europe to launch on Visa Fleet 2.0, marking an important shift from closed networks to an open-loop model designed for modern corporate mobility.

For fleets operating across Italy and beyond—especially those navigating electrification and mixed-energy operations—this matters because the transition to low-carbon mobility shouldn’t require parallel processes, parallel cards, and parallel reporting. ODOS is built to support real-world fleet complexity, so companies can focus on scaling charging and reducing emissions, not stitching together payment workarounds.