Do EV chargers in Europe have to accept cards?

Under the EU Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), public chargers must allow ad hoc payment, meaning a driver can charge without a contract or a subscription. New chargers of 50 kW or more deployed since April 2024 must accept cards, and existing ones of 50 kW or more on the main TEN-T road network must comply from 1 January 2027.

What ad hoc payment means

Drivers should not need a charging app or a membership card to start a session. For fast chargers, that means a physical card reader or a contactless terminal. Lower-power chargers can offer other ad hoc options, such as a QR code that leads to an online payment page.

Why it changes charging payments

• Charge point operators must add card acceptance hardware and an acquiring setup.
• The final amount is only known at the end of the session, so payments often use a pre-authorization followed by a capture of the actual amount.
• Price transparency rules require the price to be shown before charging starts.

The roaming model continues

Contract-based charging through mobility service providers is still allowed. AFIR adds a guaranteed alternative for drivers without a contract.

What it means for payment operators

If you serve charge point operators, they need unattended card acceptance, pre-authorization with partial capture, and reconciliation of sessions across many sites. In-store and unattended payment support, together with reconciliation, lets them meet AFIR without running separate payment setups for each network.