Fortum Charge & Drive India launches open loop Prepaid cards to enhance user experience and convenience at EV Charging stations

Fortum Charge & Drive (C&D) India launched the RuPay Pre-paid Card, in collaboration with Pine Labs – a flexible prepaid card that can be used for making payments for charging sessions completed at Fortum charging stations anywhere in India. The launch took place at ‘The FINCHAM Annual Gala 2022’ attended by various dignitaries from the industry.

The card will be available to customers from January 1, 2023, by ordering the same through the Fortum C&D App and completing minimum KYC. From January 1, 2023, Fortum Charge & Drive India shall also transition its payment method from the postpaid method to the prepaid method for EV users.   

The card can also be used to pay for EV charging at any charging station, including non-Fortum charging stations (if the RuPay card is accepted by the station operators). An EV user can also use this pre-paid card at any other e-commerce or merchant store, both for online and offline transactions where RuPay cards are accepted. RuPay cards are widely accepted at stores, restaurants, and online e-commerce platforms.

Fortum C&D is always on the lookout for innovative ways to create more value for its users and enrich their charging experience. RuPay Card is going to be a convenient and hassle-free payment solution that is specifically introduced to fulfil the varied needs of EV users and provide them flexibility & complete control over their money used to recharge the card with multiple use cases.

It has been developed in collaboration with Pine Labs, which specialises in prepaid card retail solutions and has been a reliable partner of numerous other customer-friendly B2C brands.

“We are pleased to offer EV users this innovative payment method, which can be used for making payments on any EV charging stations in India besides across e-commerce sites for online transactions and millions of POS for physical transactions across segments like OTT, eateries, movies, hospitality, retail, etc. We believe that the RuPay pre-paid card will give Fortum Charge & Drive India customers freedom and convenience, resulting in a more efficient charging experience,” said Awadhesh Kumar Jha, Executive Director, Fortum Charge & Drive India.

“We are delighted to partner with a clean energy company like Fortum Charge & Drive India in their journey to scale the EV infrastructure in India. Pine Labs is powering the Fortum co-branded prepaid program on the RuPay network. Fortum’s customers in India now have a seamless way to pay for their offline and online transactions using prepaid cards issued by Pine Labs,” said Kumar Sudarsan, President, Issuing Business, Pine Labs.

About Fortum Charge & Drive India

Fortum is an energy company driving the change for a cleaner world. Our role is to ensure the security of supply and a fast and reliable transition to a carbon-neutral economy by providing customers and societies with clean energy and sustainable solutions. Fortum’s core operations are located in the Nordics and consist of CO2-free power generation, electricity sales, district heating as well as recycling and waste solutions. Fortum’s share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.fortum.com

Fortum in India is focused on 3 verticals (Solar, EV charging infrastructure, and bio based solutions). Fortum Charge & Drive India is expanding the Public charging network in the country. We have installed base of 362 Public charging points across 10 states & 2 UTs, 16 cities including 4 highways and growing. Fortum Charging network includes 50/60 KW CCS/CHAdeMO chargers, Type-2 AC Chargers, as well as 15/20/30 KW DC001 chargers catering both to EVs like Mercedes EQC, BMW i3, Audi e-Tron, Hyundai Kona, MG ZS, Tata Nexon, Tata Tiago, Mahindra eVerito /Tata Tigor etc.

We also offer a cloud solution as licensed offering to EV charging-service providers and infrastructure investors. The SaaS (Software as a Service) architecture enables flexible, pay-as-you-go models, and white/grey label App alternatives. This service is configured to suit a wide array of custom requirements and is hardware-agnostic across different types of chargers.