South Africa’s Fintech company, EFT Corporation on Tuesday announced the deployment of an open-loop, cloud-based payment system for Electronic Vehicle (EV) charging stations, thereby setting the benchmark for payment innovation in South Africa’s rapidly growing new energy vehicle sector.
EFT Corporation promised to expand the electric transportation industry by making EV charging stations more user-friendly through its relationship with Rubicon, Visa, and Verifone.
Users will be able to pay with major credit cards at Rubicon charging stations for the first time thanks to this solution, which has already begun the proof-of-concept phase at a number of locations in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
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According to the firm, before this rollout, consumers had to utilise special cards to charge their vehicles and set up pre-funded wallets due to the closed-loop system.
According to EFTCorporatiion, this led to a number of additional steps in the process, which not only made things more difficult for consumers but also limited their capacity to communicate with other charging stations.
Furthermore, it stated that because of issues with theft, power management, and maintenance, a more effective, smooth payment method was required without the need for actual computers at every charging station.
Advantages of the cloud-based, open-loop payments system
The company went on to say: “Through the integration of EFTCorp’s payment platform with Verifone’s UX700 class-leading unattended payment device, customers can now use major credit cards on Rubicon charging stations, without having to pre-fund wallets. Additionally, terminals can now be controlled remotely using cloud-based technology.”
Vahini Jaganath, Senior Director – Digital Solutions for Visa Sub-Saharan Africa, explains: “There is no substitute for the convenience of simply tapping a card to transact instead of setting up an account and logging into a mobile app for each purchase
“With over 60% of transactions in South Africa now contactless, open-loop solutions allow drivers to charge their electric vehicles at any public charging station without needing an account or membership, creating a seamless payment experience. Enabling contactless payments at all public charging stations is an important step in making EV ownership more accessible.”
Integrated sophisticated technology to provide simplified user-friendly for consumers
Paul Carter-Brown, CTO at EFTCorp, claims that the introduction of incremental pre-authorization for dynamic, consumption-based billing is a first for South Africa and serves as an example of how teamwork can result in major innovation. It integrates sophisticated technologies to give customers a simplified and intuitive experience.
He explains, “It’s a great example of how collaboration can lead to significant innovation, with complex technologies being integrated to deliver a streamlined and user-friendly experience for customers.”
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“The payment terminals had to be controlled remotely without local computers for the first time, Verifone deployed its functionality to support remote cloud-based terminal control, and introducing incremental estimated authorisation and reducing pre-authorisation hold times necessitated specific customisations with our banking partner, and all these various systems, including Rubicon, Verifone payment devices, and EFTCorp’s integrated technology stack and switches, had to be synchronised,” he emphasised.
“The result is a significant advancement for the sector, benefitting all parties involved”, says Hilton Musk, E-Mobility Project Manager at Rubicon.
He continued, “Though it required complex operational changes, the result is the opposite for the end-user: A considerably simplified experience. It’s a unique solution for the EV charging sector and an important step for sustainability in South Africa, because the easier it is to access and use EV charging solutions, the better the adoption of electric vehicles will be.”
Craig Rankin, General Manager for Verifone South Africa, comments, “Unattended payments are revolutionising the way consumers interact with businesses, and it is our ongoing goal to upgrade these shopping touchpoints into powerful digital commerce hubs that streamline the experience for the end user. Together with its partners, Verifone leads this transformation through new standards for convenience and security, and through solutions for modern transactions that are deeply integrated with merchants’ and partners’ ecosystems.”