Virta Payment Kiosk in partnership with Mastercard: For easy card payments at EV charging stations

EV drivers look for simplicity above all else. If they find themselves with an empty battery, they want to charge it as simply as possible. Since payment is a crucial part of an EV charging session, having multiple payment options is the first point of success to ensure simplicity and customer satisfaction.

The European Commission is mandating card payment terminals at certain EV charging stations. However, this EU-wide legislation, referred to as Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), will likely come to force in the first half of 2024. Individual countries have also adopted similar national legislation to enhance consumer payment options in EV charging.

AFIR promotes and regulates clean vehicle infrastructure and enhances EV drivers’ freedom of payment options. Especially in single ad hoc payments and for newcomers to the EV world, a card payment option is considered a valuable addition to the existing payment options. 

We present: Virta Payment Kiosk in partnership with Mastercard

To help you make this payment option one of the choices for your EV drivers and eventually comply with the legal obligations, Virta has developed, in partnership with Mastercard, a stand-alone payment solution for charging stations: the Virta Payment Kiosk. The roll-out started in July 2023 in the Nordic countries with the joint launch by Virta and Mastercard and the support of Worldpay from FIS.

The Virta Payment Kiosk works just like a payment terminal at a classic petrol station. You select the correct charging point at the Kiosk, pay with your chosen credit or debit card, charge your car, and you’re ready to go.

Standard AC charging stations are usually smaller devices where an integrated solution wouldn’t make sense compared to the cost of the charging station itself. This makes the Virta Payment Kiosk a very effective and cost-efficient solution. The Kiosk can handle charging transactions from up to 100 stations in a single location.

Since the purchase costs for DC charging stations, i.e. fast charging stations and HPC or ultra-fast charging stations, are significantly higher and locations with DC chargers usually have one or only a few charging stations, equipping it with an integrated payment terminal is a better option.

The Virta Payment Kiosk and its intuitive and simple operation open up your charging stations to an entirely new audience, as it enables payment with all common modalities, including contactless. This is perfect, for example, for walk-in customers who want to charge their vehicle ad hoc with a card without registering. 

The Virta Payment Kiosk can be installed in locations with existing chargers and thanks to its plug-and-play functionality, once the Virta Payment Kiosk is installed, new charging stations can also be easily added.

How do EV drivers pay at the Virta Payment Kiosk?  

Let’s look at the process step-by-step:

1. EV driver plugs their vehicle into the charging station. 
2. They select the applicable Charger ID at the Virta Payment Kiosk.
3. They pay with a credit or debit card of their choosing (MasterCard, Visa, Maestro and VPAY are currently supported)
4. They can request an invoice by entering their e-mail address.
5. Charging begins.
6. When the charging session is completed, automatic billing takes place. And an invoice is sent by e-mail if previously requested by the EV driver.

As the charging station operator (CPO), you will receive your monthly payout as usual.

There’s no physical connection between the Payment Kiosk and the charging points necessary. Since the Kiosk is equipped with a SIM card, it’s connected to the individual charging stations and the Virta platform via the cloud.

Fully embedded to Virta Hub, the Virta Payment Kiosk is an integral part of our solution for automated payments and billing. 

The Virta Payment Kiosk is delivered pre-configured to your location and conveniently installed via plug & play. You can mount the Virta Payment Kiosk free-standing on a pillar or a wall. The Virta Payment Kiosk is currently available for all Virta customers Europe-wide.

Have we sparked your interest yet? 

Do you operate charging stations and would like to retrofit them with a Virta Payment Kiosk to make them available to a larger audience and benefit from higher number of charging sessions?  

As part of the Virta charging solution, the integrated hardware process takes care of all steps from ordering, configuration, and delivery to installation and maintenance of your Virta Payment Kiosk.

Get in touch with our sales!

Background material:

• Consumer payment behaviour
• Enabling physical cards as part of the Virta service