Luuk van Kuik from Last Mile Solutions: Open loop payment solutions will dominate the market

Charge cards and credit cards are the competing payment methods at charging stations. Last Mile Solutions offers a European-compliant end-to-end billing and settlement service for both closed loop payment (charge cards) and open loop payment (credit and bank cards).

“The market was founded on closed loop technology, meaning charge cards that can only be used in the EV ecosystem,” van Kuik explains. “But in the last couple of years, the market has been challenged by open loop technology, which means you can choose your bank card for charging.”

According to van Kuik, this switch from a closed to an open loop payment solution is the main trend in terms of digital payment solutions. He expects the latter to be dominant in ten years.

“The reason is that EVs are becoming mainstream,” says van Kuik. Currently, many EVs on the road are part of a business fleet, and businesses prefer closed loop payment solutions. However, there are more and more private EV drivers who would rather use a digital wallet or credit card.