Duracell & Paythru: Supercharging EV Payment Infrastructure

The EV charging sector faces a key challenge that extends beyond hardware and energy supply: payment infrastructure.

According to industry research, one-quarter of charging failures stem from payment issues, representing not just a customer experience problem but a material risk to revenue capture and operational performance.

For CFOs and finance leaders evaluating EV infrastructure investments, this statistic underscores the strategic importance of robust financial systems architecture.

Duracell E-Charge has selected Paythru to deliver the end-to-end payments infrastructure for its UK ultra-fast EV charging network, enabling multi-channel payment acceptance, automated settlement and real-time transaction orchestration across every site in its rollout.

The partnership demonstrates how financial precision can address the intersection of operational efficiency, risk mitigation and scalability in capital-intensive infrastructure deployments.

The partnership forms part of a wider trend of digitising the UK's EV charging economy.

Paythru will power the payments layer across all Duracell E-Charge locations, ensuring transactions are processed consistently across card, app and terminal-based channels while consolidating settlement and reporting across multiple charging operators.

Keith Brown, Founder and CEO of Paythru, says: "Duracell E-Charge is setting a new benchmark for the UK's public charging infrastructure by focusing not just on charging speed but also user experience – an area where customers consistently say EV charging needs to improve."

Payment failure as a financial risk

For finance leaders, payment friction translates directly into revenue leakage and operational inefficiency.

While speed and location dominate the charging narrative, payment system failures represent a quantifiable drag on asset utilisation and return on investment.

The estimate that one-quarter of charging failures are rooted in payment issues presents a risk management challenge that Duracell E-Charge is addressing through infrastructure design rather than reactive troubleshooting.

"With reported figures of up to 25% of charging failures being driven by payment processes, and payment failure being within UK regulations on downtime, this is a key area of focus," Mark Bloxham, Managing Director of Duracell E-Charge, says.

From a CFO perspective, payment infrastructure selection has material implications for network uptime targets, regulatory compliance and ultimately, investor confidence in operational delivery.

Infrastructure built for enterprise scalability

Duracell E-Charge's rollout includes six ultra-fast charging locations funded by The EV Network, with plans to expand across motorways, retail and hospitality venues across the UK.

Each location features Duracell's signature focus on reliability and intuitive design, mirroring the brand's long-standing image of trust and endurance within energy solutions.

Behind the scenes, Paythru's orchestration-led infrastructure aligns with the EV industry's complex payment needs.

Using real-time transaction routing and integrated settlement reporting, the system is designed to process charging payments in under a second, targeting a near-perfect success rate.

Keith adds: "The Duracell E-Charge Network is setting the goal of 99% uptime to tackle driver concerns about reliability. Truly offering 99% uptime means not just that the charger is on 99% of the time, but that payments go through efficiently so users can charge. Paythru will help it differentiate by reducing payment failure rates to near zero, with an industry-leading 99.8% payment success rate, well above the industry average."

Unlike traditional payment gateways, orchestration platforms such as Paythru sit between channels, including card, wallet or app, and unify them into one consistent layer.

This allows both operators and consumers to benefit from seamless authorisation, greater uptime and automated reconciliation, which in turn improves operational performance and compliance.

Operational efficiency and business performance

Although payments orchestration might appear to be a technical detail, it plays a direct role in business performance metrics, particularly in capital-intensive infrastructure sectors such as EV charging.

Every failed transaction prevents an EV from charging when needed, forcing delays or detours that reduce asset utilisation and energy throughput.

Reducing downtime and friction helps the entire network operate with higher energy utilisation and fewer redundancies.

For finance leaders, this translates into improved unit economics, better asset sweating and more predictable cash flow forecasting.

"With Paythru, we have a platform purpose-built for EV networks, delivering enterprise-grade reliability, automated settlement and multi-channel payment options that scale effortlessly as the network grows," Mark continues. "Drivers can plug in with confidence and operators can focus on growth and customer experience rather than worrying about payments. Paythru understands EV infrastructure at a level that more generic payment providers simply don't."

The strategic implication for CFOs evaluating infrastructure partnerships is clear: financial systems architecture is not a back-office concern but a front-line determinant of operational resilience, scalability and competitive differentiation.