Understanding the concept, role and functionality of a Clearing House
The Clearing House (CLH) serves as an intermediary between Charge Point Operators (CPO) and contract providers of car electricity – the eMobility Service Providers (MSP). It facilitates financial transactions and network access. In this setup, vaylens acts as the Clearing House.
Clearing House from the CPO perspective:
For CPOs, the primary focus is on commercializing their charging stations. The Clearing House plays a key role by marketing the CPO’s electricity offerings and assuming the financial risk in case an MSP fails to make payments. This ensures CPOs can concentrate on managing their charging infrastructure without worrying about payment issues.Clearing House from the MSP perspective
MSPs benefit from the Clearinghouse by gaining access to a large, integrated network of charge points. The CLH connects them to multiple CPOs, enabling their customers to charge their EVs at a wide range of locations with ease and without the MSP having to negotiate contracts with every CPO.
Technical services of a Clearing House:
Clearing
The Clearing House buys electricity from the CPO and sells it to the MSP. It manages the financial clearing process by invoicing the MSP for the electricity consumed by their customers and crediting the CPO for the same.
Roaming Bundler
As a Roaming Bundler, the Clearing House connects CPOs and MSPs to external networks using various Roaming Enablers like Hubject, OCPI, or Gireve. It enables internal CPOs to list their charge points on these platforms, giving MSPs and their customers the ability to charge at stations outside their primary network. This functionality ensures that EV drivers have access to a wide range of charge points across different providers.
Direct Payment Provider
The Clearing House can also offer direct payment options, such as PayPal or credit card payments, for drivers using charge points connected to the vaylens portal. In this case, the Clearing House acts as an MSP and charges the EV drivers via payment terminal or a web portal that can be accessed by scanning a QR label on the charger. This service is especially useful for CPOs that want to provide convenient payment methods to customers who are not registered with a specific MSP or familar with selling electricity to B2C customers..