Overview
The demand for electrical activation in pay-per-use applications such as EV charging stations, marinas, campgrounds, and laundromats has sky-rocketed in recent years. The global market for self-service
technology is anticipated to reach a valuation of US$57 billion within the next five years. And as a cashless society, the ability to request and pay for services on demand, and in remote locations is no longer aspirational, but essential. Competitive forces have required many companies to create seamless experiences for their customers that allow always-on service availability. This use case has driven service companies to adopt innovative shared-use applications.
The Challenge
Breaking the chain of transactional habit, that can be dated as far back as the first coins produced nearly 3000 years ago, is clearly something that is no simple feat. The overall experience, largely void of human interaction and completely reliant on remote technologies, presents a number of potential service gaps. However, in order to displace the traditional transactional method, the customer experience and stability of the overall solution needed to be completely seamless and strong.
The challenges to achieving these objectives through IoT technologies are clearly achievable but require first and foremost a stable and secure connection with the device. With devices located in remote areas (i.e. campgrounds) or within concrete buildings (i.e. laundromats), a cellular footprint that can handle the coverage diversity required for such an application become paramount. Additionally, the nature of remote services inherently presents associated security risks. By assessing the technical requirements, business objectives, and operational tasks, it was clear that a deeply integrated and experienced IoT partner was needed to overcome the challenges to truly disrupt the current model of power activation.
The Solution
Ease2pay, a Dutch-based company, is an innovator in IoT smart activation and transaction systems. The company provides an integrated billing and payment system that enables service providers to develop and improve shared-use utilities and services. With customers that range from laundromats to EV charging stations, Ease2pay understood the power that comes from connectivity. Providing real-time transactional capabilities to remote services in an agnostic way has allowed Ease2pay to support a wide range of solutions, saving service providers from having to develop custom solutions for themselves. Customers of Ease2pay include providing utility provisioning to the following use cases:
- Laundromats
- Shore Power for Inland Ships
- Campground/RV Parking
- Market/Festival Stands
- EV Charging Stations
- Share Facilities
- Common Area Lockers
In order to provide a solution that is capable of application diversity in remote environments, Ease2pay required a partner that possessed a wide set of expertise around connectivity, device management, operational logistics, and security.
KORE was identified early on as a leading candidate. It’s position as a trusted IoT advisor allowed Ease2pay to leverage the following capabilities and services:
- eSIM – The remote nature of many of Ease2pay’s customers created a need to consistently achieve the best coverage and strongest broadcast signal.
- Private APN – Security is of the highest priority and being able to partner with someone that can provide private APN capabilities allows Ease2pay to have confidence and visibility of the security of their network at all times.
- Integration and Logistics – From assistance in connecting into the AWS cloud to managing the process of delivering preconfigured modems, KORE was a true partner at every step in the journey.
Our partnership and KORE’sIoT offering has enabled us to build and launch our platform solutions. We are keen to grow our business together.
The Results
The partnership between Ease2pay and KORE has connected nearly 4,000 activation points across Europe, leading to more than 50,000 users to complete more than 600,000 transactions. The Ease2pay solution has been able to deliver 24/7 service across a variety of industry verticals. Bringing innovation to life through connectivity has allowed businesses to grow by accessing the power of self-service without losing visibility.
About KORE
KORE is a pioneer, leader, and trusted advisor delivering transformative business performance. We empower organisations of all sizes to improve operational and business results by simplifying the complexity of IoT. Our deep IoT knowledge and experience, global reach, purpose-built solutions, and deployment agility accelerate and materially impact our customers’ business outcomes.
For more information, visit www.korewireless.com
About Ease2pay
Ease2pay offers an IoT smart activation and transaction platform complete with an integrated billing and payment system. Ease2pay assists its providers with the development and improvement of shared-use services and enables the development of brands. The platform can be linked to upgrade existing shared-use facilities or applied to new facilities, saving service providers from having to develop a platform themselves.
For more information, visit ease2pay.eu/
For more information, reach out to KORE to learn how we can simplify the complexity of IoT for your business.
