Virta, Mastercard and Worldpay from FIS enable card payments for Europe's EV charging stations

Virta and Mastercard announced the launch of the new Virta Payment Kiosk solution, setting safety and reliability standards for unmanned outdoor card payment solutions for EV charging.

In collaboration with Worldpay from FIS, the new solution brings seamless card-based payments to existing and new charging stations in Europe.

While today, most EV drivers use charging service provider apps to manage their everyday EV charging, a simple card payment option has made it to the top of European EV drivers’ wish-list. As electric mobility is becoming increasingly popular, the demand for easy and convenient payment methods becomes critical. According to Mastercard research conducted in 2021, 65% of Europeans elected payment cards as their preferred payment method to overcome the number of apps and tags currently needed to reduce friction and improve the consumer experience. This trend is confirmed in the new White Paper published by Mastercard this year. 

“The lack of coherent and easy-to-use payment options at charging points have long been a pain point for electric vehicle drivers. We are therefore happy to partner with Virta and Worldpay to set new payment standards across the EV charging landscape and contribute to making mobility more sustainable,” says Erik Gutwasser, Divisional President Nordics & Baltics at Mastercard.

More freedom of choice to customers and reduced costs for charging point operators

The new Virta Payment Kiosk also makes card payments financially viable for charging point operators. The reduced cost and fast implementation time is due to Virta Payment Kiosk’s ability to handle multiple individual chargers at the same charging site and the possibility to retrofit existing AC and DC charging sites with it. The Virta Payment Kiosk also integrates the payment terminal to Virta’s EV charging money management service and complies with current (PSD2) and expected (upcoming PSD3 and AFIR) legal and regulatory requirements.

“The Virta platform already enables one-time and post-paid card payments in the Virta app. Extending the range of payment methods to include the use of payment cards at the charging stations completes the freedom of choice and flexibility for consumers. As the global leader in card payments, Mastercard and Worldpay are perfect partners to ensure the highest quality of user experience. We expect Payment Kiosks to increase the utilization rates of charging stations especially in high traffic public areas attracting one-time visitors with fast and convenient charging without the need to download an app” says Mr. Elias Pöyry, Co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer of Virta.

The solution is now readily available for all charging point owners on the Powered by Virta platform. The first roll-out of the new solutions starts with Powered by Virta network partners’ charging sites in Sweden and Finland and selected key locations in Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The target is to enable card payments at all Powered by Virta charging sites in Europe by the end of 2025. At the moment, there are around 90,000 charging points connected to the Virta platform in 35 countries. The number of charging points is expected to increase fivefold in Europe by the end of 2025¹, as Virta continues to grow faster than the market.

Background material:

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

Press photos: https://virta.pictures.fi/kuvat/Mastercard_press/

About Mastercard (NYSE: MA)

Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all. 

www.mastercard.com   

About Virta

Virta is a leading smart EV charging platform in Europe. It was ranked on the Financial Times 1,000 Europe's Fastest Growing Companies list for the fourth time in a row in 2023.

Virta digital EV charging platform is used by over 1,000 private and public companies and organizations for example in retail, hotel, real estate, parking, petrol retail, automotive, and energy industries. These customers operate over 90,000 chargers in 35 countries, forming the “Powered by Virta” network. Roaming included, EV drivers can access over 400,000 charging points in over 65 countries.

Virta builds a more sustainable future by making EV charging easier for EV drivers, profitable for companies and by connecting the EV’s to the energy system. Virta has 34 patent families with a focus on energy management capabilities central to the future connected energy and mobility ecosystem.

www.virta.global 

About Worldpay from FIS

FIS is a leading provider of technology solutions for financial institutions and businesses of all sizes and across any industry globally. We enable the movement of commerce by unlocking the financial technology that powers the world’s economy. Our employees are dedicated to advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests through our trusted innovation, system performance and flexible architecture. We help our clients use technology in innovative ways to solve business-critical challenges and deliver superior experiences for their customers. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS is a member of the Fortune 500® and the Standard & Poor’s 500® Index.

www.fisglobal.com

Contact details and requests for interviews:

For Virta

Esa-Pekka Nykänen

Communication and Brand Director, Virta Global

+358 (0)40 595 3135

esa-pekka.nykanen@virta.global

For Mastercard

Rebecca Larsson

+46 (0) 739481488

rebecca.larsson@gknordic.com

⁽¹⁾ Estimated number of charging points in Europe in 2025 compared to 2021 +475% from 0,4 million to 2,3 million and 7,9 million in 2030. Source: ACEA, ICCT, IEA, BNEF, DNV 2030 Estimates.