Adding a payment terminal to charging stations
Add cashless payments to your charging stations and make charging simpler for all your customers. What’s more, you will already be prepared for future changes in legislation.
Cashless payments at charging stations are a major topic for operators and manufacturers alike. The technical design of charging stations typically lets customers pay through various mobile apps, or the customer has a contract with a particular charging provider, who invoices them for a given period. This option most often relies on various loyalty charging cards or tags, which the customer uses to activate the charging station. But it has its pitfalls: a user who wants to charge their vehicle generally has to register separately with each charging station provider.
What if a customer does not want to pay through a payment gateway in a mobile app, or does not want to register with every charging station provider?
The option of charging without an app or registration appeals mainly to e-mobility enthusiasts who are passing through, but it may also suit local users who do not want to register or install yet another app on their phone. In that case, the simplest option is payment at the charging station using an unattended payment terminal.
Neighbouring countries have recently approved legislative changes under which every public charging station will have to have a payment terminal connected to it. It is only a matter of time before we can expect similar legislative changes in the Czech Republic or Slovakia. When that happens, a number of issues will need to be resolved concerning the integration of the payment terminal and the obligation to issue the end customer with a tax receipt for the charging session. Such integrations take some time, so it is more than advisable to start preparing for this situation now. As a supplier of payment technology, we can see that the major charging station operators are already addressing this. They are starting to integrate payment terminals so that they are ready to accept card payments the moment these legislative changes arrive here too.
How do you prepare for payment terminal integration?
If you are a charging station manufacturer, integration is certainly simpler. The software integration has to be carried out in the control system of the charging unit, which instructs the payment terminal to take the payment and receives information from it to ensure smooth charging and other services for charging station users. With our payment terminal integration, you will have a solution ready in good time, extended to include card payment, for all your charging station operators.
If you are a buyer or operator of charging stations, integration will be somewhat more complex. Our joint task will primarily be to persuade the manufacturer of your charging station to integrate a payment terminal that meets Czech legislative requirements. This means development costs for the manufacturer, and it is more than likely that they will not want to integrate such a solution. They will usually offer an existing connected solution from foreign suppliers, which, however, does not meet the legislative conditions of the Czech or Slovak market.
We can make this task easier if the manufacturer of your charging stations is our business partner and has already integrated our payment terminals into its charging stations.
It is important to ask yourself a few questions.
How will, say, an Israeli payment acceptor be able to issue a tax receipt that complies with Czech legislation? Unfortunately, foreign suppliers are not prepared for this, so you will have no choice but to persuade the charging station manufacturer to integrate a domestic payment solution supplier.
Does the operator want its payments to be accepted abroad? Smaller operators usually have no problem with that. The statements may arrive in a foreign currency, but they cope with it somehow. For larger operators, it is not that simple.
Hardware
For integrating cashless payments into charging stations, we recommend the Ingenico Self/2000 and Self/4000 terminals, which are designed for outdoor operation and look very good too. Ingenico is our long-standing, reliable business partner and a world-renowned manufacturer of modern unattended payment terminals.
How do you issue a tax receipt to the end customer?
Thanks to our connection of the charging station with the payment terminal and the DOKLAD ONLINE service, the end customer can collect their tax receipt online, on the web. Integrating this service makes it possible to show payment details, the kWh charged and other information from the control system on the receipt. This solution meets the legislative requirements for issuing a simplified tax receipt and is also convenient for the end customer. You will soon be able to see it in use on SIEMENS charging stations, for example.
Our VISION
As a supplier of payment technology, we at SONET also strive to keep up with new trends in cashless payments and, by supporting e-mobility, to reduce the impact on the environment. By integrating the DOKLAD ONLINE service and an unattended device into the charging station, we can ensure that the required tax receipt for the transaction at the charging station is issued, and so meet the legislative requirements of the market. DOKLAD ONLINE also helps to reduce the volume of needlessly printed tax receipts. Together with e-mobility, we are helping to protect the environment. Customers who really need a receipt can collect it online from the comfort of their home.
Our vision is to be part of the electrification of transport and, as such, to be the cashless payments partner for all charging station suppliers and operators.
Don’t wait! Start working on connecting payment terminals to your charging stations now and make payment at your charging stations simpler for all customers. You will also be ready for future legislative changes. For more information or a proposed solution, CONTACT US!
