Electromobility – charge electricity and pay by mobile phone bill
07.12.21 / Press release DIMOCO
Customers with a mobile phone contract from o2, Vodafone and Telekom can charge electricity via their mobile phone bill. Together with the three major mobile phone operators, the payment institute DIMOCO is offering the payment system as a payment option to all charging station operators in Germany. ‘Charging electricity and paying by mobile phone bill is a quick and easy way to charge your electric car independently of charging cards and charging apps,’ says Loukas Louka, Managing Director of DIMOCO. All you need is a smartphone and an existing mobile phone contract. This eliminates the hassle of searching for the right card or app. ‘Another advantage is the range,’ continues Louka, ’almost everyone has the payment system in their pocket with their smartphone.’
Automatic verification of the mobile phone number eliminates the need to enter payment information manually. The end customer is thus guided through the purchasing process more quickly and easily. There are two payment options. Either by scanning a QR code or by sending an SMS. The purchase amount is then shown and billed on the next mobile phone bill.
The Bundesverband eMobilität e.V. (BEM) also welcomes the new uncomplicated payment method. ‘We are always pleased to see new products that increase the acceptance of electromobility by reducing complexity,’ says BEM board member Markus Emmert. Legislators have also recognised that the confusion of different charging cards and apps has created a customer-unfriendly market situation and will intervene from 1 July 2023 with the Charging Station Ordinance (LSV). From this date, only charging points that have a physical card terminal will be allowed to be installed in Germany. This means that charging processes can be paid for with standard EC or credit cards. Markus Emmert: ‘For existing charging stations that cannot be retrofitted with a card terminal, the option of paying by mobile phone bill is particularly suitable. This fulfils the legislator’s desire for uncomplicated, contract-independent charging.’
The example of Hamburg shows that charging and paying by mobile phone bill is enjoying growing acceptance. The local electricity supplier Stromnetz Hamburg GmbH has been using the payment system at its 600 or so charging points since 2020. Björn Osterkamp, Innovation Management Stromnetz Hamburg, comments: ‘As a charging point operator for the city of Hamburg, we want to make it as easy as possible for electric car drivers to pay directly without having to download an app. The payment system is a very low-threshold and, above all, very well received payment option here in Hamburg, especially for spontaneous/ad-hoc chargers.’
