Mastercard partners with Last Mile Solutions for EV charging solution

Mastercard and Last Mile Solutions have announced that they are working together to establish new payment standards for the electric vehicle charging industry. The new payment gateway solution will enable CPOs to seamlessly integrate their (existing) charging stations with various payment terminal brands.

“Seamless” in this context means it will not require any major integration effort. At least that’s how Last Mile Solutions puts it in the press release on the Mastercard cooperation. “The new payment gateway solution will unify the user experience and simplify payment terminal integration, onboarding and transaction processing,” it says.

The solution will be rolled out across Europe from early 2024 to enable CPOs to comply with the EU AFIR regulation, which comes into force in April 2024. The European AFIR will essentially replace the German LSV (Charging Station Ordinance). How exactly the two regulations will complement or contradict each other in detail is still up for discussion, even among experts. For many CPOs, however, it will thus be less risky to fulfil the stricter requirements – otherwise, even fairly new charging stations could be subject to subsequent adjustments or expensive hardware retrofits.

The AFIR states: “At publicly accessible recharging points deployed from 13 April 2024, recharging on an ad hoc basis shall be possible using a payment instrument that is widely used in the Union. To that end, operators of recharging points shall accept electronic payments at those points through terminals and devices used for payment services, including at least one of the following: (a) payment card readers; (b) devices with a contactless functionality that is at least able to read payment cards; (c) for publicly accessible recharging points with a power output below 50 kW, devices using an internet connection and allowing for secure payment transactions such as those generating a specific Quick Response code.” The card reader for credit cards (such as Mastercard) or the contactless function will become mandatory from 50 kW charging power – the QR code solution is only intended for charging points below 50 kW. And by 2027, charging points already installed with more than 50 kW will also have to be retrofitted with a card reader or the contactless function.

So it’s no wonder that after their successful lobbying, financial providers such as Visa and Mastercard, together with Last Mile Solutions, are pushing into the European charging market with AFIR. Officially, Mastercard and Last Mile Solutions want to foster “the uptake of electric vehicles throughout Europe by eliminating existing barriers and simplifying the charging process for drivers with interoperable and universal payment solutions.”

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Last Mile Solutions. The transition to the mass adoption of electric mobility is key to building a more sustainable world. Achieving this requires partnerships like these to make the transition as seamless as possible, not only for consumers but also for infrastructure operators,” says George Simon, Executive Vice President of Market Development Europe at Mastercard.

“In the dynamic world of payment systems and EV charging, this strategic partnership between Mastercard and Last Mile Solutions will accelerate a seamless EV adoption. Our leadership in the market is anchored by providing an effortless payment terminal solution for charging stations for retrofit and newly built charging stations. This collaboration is designed to support Charge Point Operators to seamlessly facilitate integration and comply with AFIR. Our solution will allow operators to focus on their core business.” says Eric van Voorden, Chief Executive Officer, Last Mile Solutions.

lastmilesolutions.com