EMVCo has been collaborating with stakeholders across the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem as part of its Electric Vehicle Open Payments (EVOP) initiative to explore how EMV® payment technology could support a simple, consistent and interoperable charging payment experience.
In this post, Soumya Chakrabarty, Chair of the EMVCo EVOP Task Force, explains how this work has resulted in the publication of a draft document describing an interoperable open payment solution for EV charging.
Why did EMVCo launch its EV Open Payments initiative?
With EV adoption continuing to accelerate globally, supporting the charging infrastructure to meet growing demand is a priority for industry stakeholders and policymakers across the world. A recent report from the International Energy Agency highlighted that “access to public charging points is key to supporting mass adoption.”[1]
Improving the charging payment experience for EV drivers is critical to achieving this aim. At present, drivers may need to register for multiple proprietary EV charging station accounts when paying to charge their vehicle, which causes unnecessary friction and inconvenience.
Open payments can address this challenge for EV drivers, enabling them to have more choice and flexibility when charging their vehicle. Through an EMV-based open payments approach, EV drivers can pay for charging without needing to establish a prior relationship with individual merchants, download various applications, or sign up for multiple different accounts or memberships. Merchants can also be confident that all drivers are able to pay for charging.
Given these benefits and following direct industry feedback, EMVCo launched its EVOP initiative to examine how an EMV-based open payments approach can enable a trusted, consistent and convenient EV charging payment experience for drivers everywhere.
How has the EVOP initiative developed so far?
In collaboration with EV and payments industry stakeholders, EMVCo has been evaluating how to integrate open payments into the Plug and Charge experience defined in ISO 15118 – the widely adopted global standard for EV charging that specifies a digital communication protocol between the EV and the charging station.
This work has resulted in the publication of the draft EV Open Payments Use Case document. The document outlines how EMV Secure Remote Commerce (SRC) technology – which simplifies the digital payment process to help make it more consistent, convenient and secure – can be used to integrate EMV-based payments at EV charging stations supporting Plug and Charge.
Using EMV SRC technology has various benefits. It maximises global interoperability and supports compatibility with the existing charging infrastructure. No hardware changes are anticipated from EV manufacturers and charging station operators (CSOs) need only limited backend integration. This can help ease deployments, reduce costs and accelerate time-to-market.
Following review from EMVCo Associates and Subscribers, the EV Open Payments Use Case document was published for initial public review on 04 August. An updated version of the document – incorporating feedback and comments from industry stakeholders – will soon be available for public review.
How can EMV SRC technology enable EV open payments?
While the EMV SRC use case for EV open payments is flexible to support different deployment options and scenarios, here is a high-level overview of how it could work:
- The driver uses their EV app or console to link a payment card to the EV, which creates an ISO 15118 Mobility Operator (MO) charging contract certificate. The charging contract certificate is securely stored within the EV and linked to the driver’s chosen card. The driver then selects the charging contract and enables Plug and Charge.
- At the charging station, the driver plugs in the charging cable – which establishes a Plug and Charge connection. The charging contract (carrying all payment-related data) is then transmitted and validated to enable charging to begin.
- Once charging finishes, the payment is complete, and details of the charging session are sent to the driver.
To support further understanding of the use case, EMVCo has published a demo:
How has EMVCo engaged with the payment and EV ecosystems?
Collaboration across the ecosystem is key to enabling EV drivers everywhere to have more choice and convenience when paying for charging. This is why EMVCo is working closely with payment and EV industry stakeholders around the world, including technical bodies and industry associations such as the Car Connectivity Consortium, CharIN, ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and the Secure Technology Alliance.
Most recently, CharIN and EMVCo announced a new, multi-phased joint initiative – titled “New Payment Solutions” – bringing together global industry leaders from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), CSOs and MOs to discuss how EMV-based payments can work alongside ISO 15118 Plug and Charge systems in an open, secure, and interoperable way.
How can I get involved?
As EMVCo continues work to enhance the EV charging payment experience, we welcome and encourage all interested industry stakeholders to get involved and join as an EMVCo Associate or Subscriber.
[1] IEA, Global EV Outlook 2025, May 2025
by Soumya Chakrabarty