At the end of 2018, GIREVE’s interoperability platform launched Clearing, an invoicing-related services for e-mobility operators. Jean-Marc Rives, GIREVE’s CTO, explains the available features, the first feedbacks and potential evolutions.
What need does Clearing meet? For whom has it been created?
We created a range of services to simplify and support invoicing processes between operators. To ensure roaming of EV charge, e-Mobility Service Providers collaborate with many Charge Point Operators, to provide their customers with the largest and most exhaustive charging network possible. Those collaborations contain technical, contractual, operational characteristics… and financial ones: Charge Point Operators send bills to e-Mobility Service Providers, who then pay for past charging sessions. Clearing, the range of new services that GIREVE launched at the end of 2018 supports and simplifies the financial aspect of their collaboration. GIREVE positions itself as a trusted third party, helping exchanges.
In order to issue reliable, fair invoices of good quality, it is essential to ensure good quality of Charge Detail Records (CDR). This is why GIREVE set up automatic control quality algorithms to help value the CDR.
What are the features available with this range of services? How can operators benefit from them?
The first service is the invoicing service: it enables the creation of invoices from CPOs to eMSPs, basing on past charging sessions, the contract they signed together and fiscal rules.
But in order to issue reliable, fair invoices of good quality, it is essential to ensure good quality of Charge Detail Records (CDR). This is why GIREVE set up automatic control quality algorithms to help value the CDR.
It seems relevant for CPOs to benefit from such a service: quality comes first, and it helps reduce disagreements or contested invoices as well as management costs.
You’re already offering this service to Charge Point Operators but also e-Mobility Service Providers. Can you tell us what you offered them and give us further details on this collaboration?
Besides the obvious benefit for CPOs, Clearing was also designed for eMSPs. The CDR control feature enables CDR billing. It is thus possible to know the price of each session in real time. Those two pieces of information, quality check and charging session price, are key to eMSPs. eMSPs need them to send checked and trustworthy information to their users, as soon as the charge stops: “your charging session just ended. It amounts to €3.50”
eMSPs can also be notified in real time when Charge Detail Records carry mistakes. They can get in touch with CPOs to clarify and edit the records at the earliest stage, before the invoicing phase. Finally, it enables eMSPs to always have access to the charging session price, event if the CPO cannot technically do it. GIREVE gives eMSPs quality information, alleviating CPO diversity. This is the service that we offered several eMSPs and that we implemented last spring.
Have you planned to release new features in the coming months? Which evolutions are you hoping to make?
We are already working on services to help contest management, at the earliest stage, before the invoicing stage. Operators often ask for this type of service, because it really helps reduce post-invoicing contests which are very heavy and costly to handle. It also helps deal with customer requests quickly, without waiting for the invoicing cycle which often happens monthly or quarterly.
