ChargePoint said on August 26, 2026 that it has integrated Cariqa Go into be.ENERGISED, its European charging management platform, adding a QR-code ad-hoc payment option for operators. A driver scans a code at the charge point, pays with Apple Pay, Google Pay, a card or PayPal on a mobile payment page, and starts charging with no app download and no account. The page can be styled in the operator's own branding. It is live in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, the UK and Ireland. "As the European charging market matures, operators are increasingly focused on getting more value out of their equipment," ChargePoint CEO Rick Wilmer said. "By offering Cariqa through be.ENERGISED, we are giving them another way to reach drivers and monetize their network." Cariqa, a Berlin-based EV-charging payments company founded in 2023, builds the underlying payment infrastructure; ChargePoint is the operator-facing platform doing the integrating.
The reason this keeps coming up is regulatory. The EU's Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation requires most public fast chargers to accept an ad-hoc payment, meaning a driver who has never signed up for anything can still pay and charge. An operator can meet that with a card terminal on the pole, a payment link sent by SMS, or a QR-code partner like this one; each trades off hardware cost, checkout friction and how much the operator controls the branding.
Whichever ad-hoc method a site uses sits alongside the backend that actually runs the charge points, and that part does not have to come from the same vendor. An OCPP-based backend manages authorization, sessions and reporting across whatever hardware and payment layer an operator picks, brand by brand, without locking the payment choice to the charger brand.
Sources: ChargePoint and Cariqa partner on QR code payments, electrive.com, August 26, 2026. ChargePoint partners with Cariqa to offer customers easy charging, Business Motoring, August 26, 2026.