Two payments firms in Europe are collaborating on a venture that would bring crypto payment support into electric charging stations
A joint project between two payment firms will introduce support for crypto payments in electric vehicle charging stations across Europe. Mobile payment solutions provider HIPS and payments platform Vourity are developing a system that would accept cryptocurrencies in EV stations, making it easier for electric car owners that use digital assets.
A total of 50,000 charging stations will feature this solution in the next three years according to the companies. HIPS Payment Group is an Irish company that specialises in offering reliable solutions in the payments and e-commerce niche. The company’s chief executive John Cavebring, in a statement, noted that the project would bring convenience.
“We are really pleased to announce this partnership as we believe it is forward-thinking on many fronts; allowing the use of crypto payments will make charging convenient for all EV drivers, which will accelerate the move to an all-electric vehicle future.”
Vourity, on the other hand, is a Swedish firm and one of the growing payment solutions providers in Europe. The firm, at present, has a payment solution that lets electric vehicle owners pay for charging using digital services and credit cards. The collaborative efforts with HIPs would add cryptocurrencies to these already available payment processing options.
The technology, incorporated into the Vourity platform, will tap on Hips Merchant Protocol’s native protocol token Merchant Token to connect to the blockchain. The HIPS Merchant Protocol (built on Ethereum and Solana), its gateway and governing token were all launched last month. Its implementation will start in November this year, and the entire rollout is projected to take about three years.
Vourity’s head Hans Nottehed asserted that the technology would meet the needs of EV owners while speaking about the partnership.
“We [Vourity] are all about innovation, and that starts with listening to EV drivers to understand and address their evolving needs. We want to make it easy for drivers to charge their car, and offering an open platform that allows for crypto payments is the most logical choice for our next generation world,” he said.
The companies didn’t divulge any details regarding the cryptocurrencies that would be accepted. However, there is a strong indication that Ether would be among them as the Ethereum logo was featured in the image showing Vourity’s payment terminal. Nottehed confirmed that the crypto payments processed would be converted into fiat currency.