To create a hassle-free charging experience for EV drivers, charge point operators often partner with reputable local payment processors with trusted credentials that offer the most favorable terms. Given the critical importance of monetization, ideally, you should have full control over the payment provider and the settings and fees involved in the payment flow to maximize revenue and enhance your customers’ overall experience. With the right payment processor in place, you provide your EV drivers with the convenience of using a familiar payment provider, making it simple for them to add funds to their accounts and pay for their EV charging services.
However, this isn’t always as straightforward as it sounds. Several challenges can arise when working with local payment processors. Local regulations and compliance requirements can vary widely and impact your choice of payment providers and payment methods. Once you’ve chosen a payment processor, lengthy procedures, a lack of technical documentation, and slow customer support can all lead to delays in the project timeline, ultimately impacting your ability to generate revenue. Alternatively, there may be issues with integrating the payment processor due to limited regional use or subpar technical support, which could further hinder your business and delay revenue generation.
Enabling customized payment options
AMPECO has created a solution to these challenges by providing an option that allows customers to add funds to their accounts via an external web page. Usually, customers will select from the built-in top-up packages and pay for them via the credit card added to the mobile application. However, there are countries where credit cards are not the preferred payment method, or there are issues with integrating the local payment processor. In these scenarios, the External Balance Top-up functionality provides an alternative way for EV drivers to add money to their balance in the mobile app.
Charge point operators can set up an external web page, managed entirely by them, that redirects users from the mobile app to the specified web page so they can easily purchase the desired top-up amount. This web page has been designed to support multiple languages and will automatically translate to the appropriate language based on the user’s locale in the mobile app. From the web page, they can select from the available payment methods and pay for the amount that will be added to their balance. The EV driver’s balance will automatically be updated via API when they return to the app after purchasing the top-up amount from the external page, simplifying the process of funding the balance in their account.
Setting up external balance top-up in AMPECO’s EV charging management platform
In the backend of AMPECO’s EV charging software, you can easily set up the External Balance Top-up feature by navigating to the “External web interface with top-up via API” integration and specifying the URL of the external page. From there, in ‘User Billing Settings’ there is a drop-down option called “Balance top up” where the “External” option needs to be selected. The platform will seamlessly load the external web page with the user ID whenever an EV driver taps on the “+” button in the Balance screen of the app to top up their balance.
To ensure a smooth implementation, there is an option to select a Production or Test integration, similar to testing payment processors. If the Test integration is selected, it will be available only for a few selected user accounts.
Facilitating external balance top-ups puts you in control of the EV charging payment process
Charge point operators benefit significantly from having full control over the integration of their payment processors, which provides them with added flexibility and autonomy. By being able to choose the payment processor and set the parameters, you ensure that you can tailor the payment process to your specific needs and preferences. This level of control also means that the implementation process is faster, as there is no need to wait for AMPECO to develop a specific integration with a particular payment processor. This saves time and reduces costs associated with developing specific integrations.
An alternative way for EV drivers to recharge their balance
The external balance top-up feature offered by AMPECO not only benefits the charge point operator but also significantly improves the user experience for EV drivers. With a streamlined external balance top-up flow, EV drivers can enjoy a seamless charging experience using a payment provider they are already familiar with. The CPOs’ collaboration with the payment processor ensures that the external web page offers a wide range of preferred payment options for EV drivers, including local e-wallets, which further enhances the convenience and accessibility of the charging experience.
The big picture: How external balance top-ups align with broader EV charging payment trends
The external balance top-up feature offered by AMPECO gives charge point operators the ability to integrate with their payment provider seamlessly, have full control over the payment process, and provide a better experience for their EV drivers. However, it is important to note that this feature benefits CPOs when it comes to customers that use their balance as a payment method for EV charging. There are, of course, a range of other ways drivers can pay for EV charging, such as credit and debit cards, postpaid subscriptions, and corporate billing. AMPECO’s external balance feature adds an additional payment option you can offer your drivers among all other options in AMPECO’s EV charging management platform.
Talk to one of our EV charging experts about your company’s needs, and let us demonstrate how AMPECO’s EV charging management solution helps you achieve your goals and set you up for long-term success.
