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In-app payments let drivers start a session and pay for it without a physical card or a separate terminal. Spirii is the Merchant of Record for every one of them, handling processing, VAT, and digital receipts, so what reaches you is a monthly payout rather than an acquiring relationship to run.

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Overview

For CPOs

A monthly payout for every app session on your network. Spirii holds the acquiring agreement, carries the PCI obligations, and handles disputes and refunds.

For eMSPs and branded-app operators

The same payment flow in your own app and your own brand, running on Spirii’s payment infrastructure. You publish the app; the payment stack is already built.
The channel is on by default wherever drivers use Spirii Go or your branded app, and needs nothing on the charger beyond what is already there. Registration is not a barrier either: a driver can charge as a guest, starting and paying for a session without creating an account.

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How it works

1

Driver starts a charge

The driver opens Spirii Go or your branded app and starts a session on one of your chargers.
2

Spirii pre-authorises the payment method

A hold goes on the driver’s card or wallet, sized to cover a typical session at that charger type and tariff.
3

Session completes

When charging stops, Spirii captures the actual amount from the energy consumed and the tariff at that location.
4

Driver receives a receipt

A digital receipt lands in the app immediately, itemising the session and the VAT. See Receipts for what it carries and how a driver retrieves one later.
5

You receive the payout

App revenue is paid the following month by self-billing invoice, net of platform and payment fees.
That last step works because of who the merchant is: Spirii buys the energy from you and resells it to the driver at the moment of the transaction. Billing and payout flows sets out what that means for VAT, chargebacks, and your invoice.

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Supported payment methods

In-app payments run on Stripe, which is what gives the app its range of methods.
  • All major card issuers such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express and more
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay
  • SEPA Direct Debit, and iDEAL, which settles over SEPA
Drivers stay in the app to pay. Where a card needs Strong Customer Authentication, the 3-D Secure challenge runs in a frame inside the app rather than sending the driver to a browser. iDEAL is the exception: it hands the driver to their bank to confirm, then returns them to the app.

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Pre-authorisation and capture

EV charging is open-ended — at plug-in, neither the driver nor the platform knows how much energy the session will take. Spirii places a hold when the session starts, then captures the exact amount when it ends. Any difference is released immediately, with no separate refund. If a session turns out more expensive than the hold, Spirii raises the hold by incremental authorisation rather than taking a second payment. A failed pre-authorisation stops the session before it starts, and the driver is prompted for a different payment method. A failed capture after the session has completed is retried automatically over the following days. See Pre-authorisation and capture for how the hold is sized, adjusted, and reused.

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Dependencies & limitations

  • The driver needs the app on their phone. Guest charging removes the need to register, but not the need to have downloaded Spirii Go or your branded app. For a driver who arrives with neither, in-person payments take payment at the charger itself.
  • You cannot bring your own acquiring. Spirii is the merchant on every app session. There is no bring-your-own-PSP equivalent to the PAAS mode offered on payment terminals, so if holding the acquiring agreement matters to you, that route exists on terminals only.
  • Not every app session earns a payout. Sessions under 0,2 kWh, sessions running longer than seven days, and free or voucher-funded charging are excluded from the self-billing invoice. The specification file accompanying each payout gives the reason per session. See Understanding your payout.
  • App revenue pays out the following month. Inbound roaming revenue pays in the same month Spirii invoices the roaming partner; app revenue does not.
  • The methods on offer vary by market. Cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay are broadly available. Which local methods a driver sees depends on where they are charging.
The channel that covers the drivers this one cannot is in-person payments.

In-person payments

Contactless payment at the charger, for drivers with no app and no account.

Pre-authorisation and capture

How Spirii authorises and captures payment for open-ended sessions.

Billing and payout flows

How Spirii collects from drivers and pays you out for app sessions.

Receipts

What an app receipt carries, and how a driver finds one after the fact.