During the AMPECO Masterclass at ICNC26, AMPECO’s CRO and co-founder Stefan Ivanov shared an interesting example of how payment terminal visibility can affect charging revenue.
After connecting its payment terminals to the AMPECO platform, one charging operator saw a sharp increase in support calls from drivers reporting terminal errors, leaving the support team so overwhelmed that they considered reverting to their old setup, until they reviewed the month’s results. Revenue had increased by 30%.
As Stefan explained, those calls revealed a problem the operator hadn’t been able to see before. Previously, when a payment failed, drivers received no feedback and simply walked away. Now, the terminal made the issue visible, giving them a reason to contact support instead of abandoning the session. The extra calls were sessions the operator had been losing without knowing it.
The story sits inside a bigger shift. Only five years ago, payment terminals were a nice-to-have, accounting for a negligible share of charging revenue. Today, driven by new regulations and changing EV driver expectations, some network operators now have thousands of terminals deployed, with 30–50% of their revenue flowing through them.
At that scale, payment terminal reliability is just as important as charger uptime. A charger can be fully operational, but if the payment terminal isn’t working, drivers can’t start a session.
Terminals deserve the same care and attention as chargers
Network operators have spent years improving charger reliability and uptime with real-time monitoring, alerts, remote resets, and firmware updates. Terminals rarely get the same attention. Many operate outside the EV charging management platform, connected only to the payment provider’s cloud or built into the charger without sending their status back to the platform.
That leaves a blind spot. Without visibility into the terminal’s status, operators may only discover the problem when a frustrated driver calls for support, if they find out at all.
Meanwhile, the share of revenue from terminals continues to grow, so the lack of visibility is becoming increasingly costly. Regulations such as AFIR in the EU, the UK’s Public Charge Point Regulations and California’s card-payment rule for DC fast chargers are accelerating the adoption of payment terminals.
Stefan emphasized during the masterclass:
“We need to ensure the same level of care and diligence to the credit card terminal as we do on the charger.”
This is why the approach AMPECO takes is making the payment terminal a managed asset in the platform, where operators can monitor their activity, track reliability, and manage supported devices remotely.
Connect terminals the way your hardware allows
Payment terminals don’t all connect to the EV charging management platform in the same way. Depending on the hardware and payment provider, the connection may run through the provider’s cloud, an OCPI integration or the charger itself, or the terminal may run AMPECO’s own app.
To accommodate these different setups, AMPECO supports four ways to connect terminals, allowing operators to bring terminal payments into the platform without being tied to a single hardware configuration. Each works differently and determines how much information the platform can access about terminal activity and payment transactions. With the AMPECO Terminal App, operators can also update the app, branding details and pricing on the terminal remotely.
| Connection | How it works | Examples | What the platform sees |
| Cloud to cloud | The terminal talks to its provider’s cloud. Plugging in wakes the linked terminal with the pre-authorization amount; on Payter terminals in always-on mode the driver taps first instead. AMPECO starts the session once the card is authorized and sends the final amount for capture. | Payter, Windcave, Nayax and Crane | Terminal status, every session, captured amounts |
| OCPI | Terminal and kiosk providers connect over OCPI. The provider starts the session after payment, sends the captured amount and receives the receipt link. AMPECO records these as direct payments at your own tariff, not as roaming sessions settled with an eMSP. | CCV, Payter, Verifone and Nayax | Every session, captured amounts, receipt delivery. No terminal health data. |
| Built into the charger | The terminal is part of the charge point. AMPECO recognizes its sessions by an ID tag rule and accepts them as paid. On supported chargers, card captures reported over OCPP DataTransfer are reconciled to the session as externally billed transactions. | Payter, Nayax, Ingenico, WL Valina | Authorization and payment capture only. No terminal health data. |
| AMPECO Terminal App | AMPECO’s white-label app runs on the terminal itself. It shows the price from your tariff, starts the session after pre-authorization, and shows the session and receipt QR on screen. The payment provider handles the card. | Castles S1U2, PAX IM30 and others, through Worldline, Printec, Cardlink and Adyen | Terminal status, every session, captured amounts. App updates, logo, welcome message, support details and pricing managed from the platform |
These integrations take much of the complexity out of payment management for operators. For example, reconciling card payments from built-in terminals with their corresponding charging sessions previously required manual work or custom integrations. Now, when the charger reports payment data through OCPP, AMPECO handles that reconciliation directly within the platform.
Work on visibility into built-in terminals continues. AMPECO is collaborating with charger and terminal manufacturers to make more terminal data available through OCPP, helping operators identify and address payment-related issues more effectively.
For help choosing hardware and a payment provider, see our practical guide to payment terminals. For the built-in option, see the embedded payment terminal integration on the AMPECO Marketplace.
Deliver the charging experience with the AMPECO Terminal App
Connecting payment terminals to the platform is only part of the picture. The next step is making better use of the screen itself, turning a device traditionally used for card payments into an interface that guides drivers through the charging experience.
On older devices with small screens, the experience began and ended with a prompt to tap for pre-authorization. Newer devices from Castles and Worldline have screens roughly the size of a smartphone, and that changes what the terminal can do. Operators can now offer a branded, tailored charging experience on it: drivers see the charging price before tapping their card, follow their session in real time, and access their receipt when charging ends.
As Stefan put it, “The terminal is now your second app.”The comparison is about the experience, not about asking drivers to install anything. Operators already have their white-label driver app for registered users. Many drivers use it mainly for setup: they add a payment method, link an RFID card, or turn on Autocharge, and then charge without opening it again. The terminal is different. It is the screen in front of the driver at the charger, every time they pay by card. The payment terminal extends that experience to drivers who prefer to pay by card, giving them access to essential charging information without downloading an app or creating an account.
That’s what the AMPECO Terminal App is designed to do. The white-label, multilingual Android application runs on supported Android-based payment terminals. It gives operators control over the information and experience presented to drivers, from the moment they arrive at the charger to the end of their session.
The experience starts before the driver even taps their card. The terminal displays the charging price directly from the tariff configured in the AMPECO platform, ensuring that drivers see the applicable pricing upfront. When the operator changes a tariff in the platform, the terminal shows the new price automatically.
For locations where a single terminal serves multiple charge points, drivers can see live connector availability, select where they want to charge, and complete payment on the same device. Once charging begins, the terminal shows the session’s progress, including the vehicle’s state of charge during DC charging. At the end, a QR code provides access to the receipt. On some terminals, drivers who need an invoice can also request one by entering their VAT ID before starting the session.
The app runs in different modes to match the site:
- Standard mode provides the complete payment and charging journey for a terminal linked to a single charge point.
- Screensaver mode, available on supported Worldline devices, displays the operator’s branding and welcome message until a charging cable is plugged in.
- EVSE list mode allows drivers to quickly select an EVSE from a list, making it particularly suitable for DC charging stations.
- Kiosk mode allows a single terminal to serve all charge points within an assigned charging zone.
The Terminal App only initiates charging sessions with a valid pre-authorization.
Throughout these interactions, payment security remains with the payment service provider. AMPECO controls the driver-facing experience, while sensitive card data stays within the provider’s certified payment infrastructure.
Monitor and update terminals the way you do chargers
Bringing payment terminals into the charging platform gives operators something they’ve traditionally lacked: visibility into whether those devices are actually working, and the ability to manage them remotely.
For terminals connected cloud to cloud or running the AMPECO Terminal App, the platform tracks online status from heartbeats or online and offline events. A terminal that goes silent is marked offline, and every status change is logged. A reliability widget shows uptime, downtime and offline events per terminal, the same view operators already use to detect network issues automatically on chargers.
Beyond monitoring, operators can also manage the software and configuration of terminals running the AMPECO Terminal App. App versions can be deployed over the air, either across an entire integration or to individual terminals. The same flexibility applies to branding, with logos, welcome messages, and support contact details managed centrally and customized for specific devices. Along with pricing updates made directly in the platform, this reduces the need for on-site visits to make routine changes.
By bringing terminal transactions into the same platform as app-based and roaming sessions, operators gain a more complete picture of payment activity across their network. This is also the thinking behind AMPECO’s partnership with Worldline, which brings together payments through the driver app, QR code portal, and card terminals, making it easier to track successful transactions, identify errors, and streamline operations.
Built so operators do not have to
As Stefan pointed out during the masterclass, “you can imagine how much you need to build for something as simple as a credit card terminal.”
Behind that seemingly simple device are multiple integrations, payment flows, driver interactions, and monitoring requirements. AMPECO brings these capabilities together in the same platform operators already use to manage their chargers, removing the need to develop and maintain the integrations themselves.
For network operators, this means better visibility into payment issues, fewer potentially lost charging sessions, and greater flexibility in their choice of hardware and payment providers. Kiosk functionality can also reduce the number of terminals needed at sites with multiple charge points.
For EV drivers, the result is a more transparent and reliable charging experience, with clear pricing, live session information, and easy access to receipts, all without downloading an app or creating an account.
Remember the operator that nearly reverted to its old setup? The calls that overwhelmed its support team were lost sessions it could finally see. Once the terminal is part of the platform, those sessions stop being invisible.
