New invoicing solution to support e-mobility: Aareal Bank announces cooperation with platform provider smartlab
Wiesbaden/Aachen, 8 December 2020 – Aareal Bank AG has developed an automated invoicing procedure within the scope of a partnership with smartlab Innovationsgesellschaft mbH. Being applied to e-mobility as an initial field of application, “Aareal Connected Payments” simplifies invoice management for complex payment flows between different partners – so-called multi-party payments – on a shared platform, hence supporting the progress of e-mobility in Germany.
Simplifying invoice management
The pilot phase of this new invoicing solution will begin on the ladenetz.de platform, via which smartlab connects over 220 municipal utility companies as providers of charging points. The platform allows owners of electric cars to charge their vehicles at the charging poles of participating municipal utilities throughout Germany – using a single charging card. On the one hand, this benefits users, since it simplifies charging and settlement; on the other hand, municipal utility companies gain a significant edge: the platform solution makes settling the charging processes and payments between different companies far easier. Lars Ernst, Managing Director at Aareal Bank, elaborates: “The cooperation with smartlab enables us to contribute our know-how regarding IT-based small-scale mass payments, applying it to a new and promising area of growth. We are thus playing a part in advancing e-mobility in Germany.”
Enhancing the efficiency of client processes
Aareal Connected Payments provides automated settlement management for third-party charging transactions in the charging network: instead of settling each transaction separately and bilaterally, the solution compresses payment flows to a minimum – all individual invoices are bundled per invoicing cycle and automatically settled via Aareal Bank as the payment service provider. The municipal utilities receive individual electronic invoices which also take tax-related particularities into account, thus ensuring full transparency on all transactions within the payment process. Therefore, the hitherto huge billing effort between municipal utilities is reduced to a minimum.
“We are delighted to be entering into a pioneering partnership with Aareal Bank, helping us to significantly increase the efficiency of client processes. Clients are left with minimum effort and costs, and we are able to focus on our core expertise, i.e. developing services surrounding e-mobility for municipal utilities and business partners,” notes Dr Mark Steffen Walcher, Managing Director of smartlab.
Adapting the solution to other platform models
Aareal Bank is already thinking ahead, planning to expand this business model to other application scenarios beyond e-mobility. Holger Spielberg, Group Technology Officer at Aareal Bank, explains: “We are entering a highly interesting new business area with our platform solution Aareal Connected Payments; luckily, we have found the right partner in smartlab. Going forward, the solution can be adjusted to meet the requirements of other platform models in different sectors. We are at the beginning of an exciting development journey.”
For further information on Aareal Connected Payments and Aareal Bank AG’s product innovations, please refer to: https://thinkfuture.aareal-bank.com/the-future-of-payment
About Aareal Bank Group:
Aareal Bank Group, headquartered in Wiesbaden, is a leading international property specialist. It provides smart financings, software products, and digital solutions for the property sector and related industries, and is present across three continents: Europe, North America and Asia/Pacific. Aareal Bank AG, whose shares are included in Deutsche Börse’s MDAX index, is the Group’s parent entity. It manages the various entities organised in the Group’s three business segments: Structured Property Financing, Consulting/Services Bank, and Aareon. The Structured Property Financing segment encompasses all of Aareal Bank Group’s property financing and funding activities. Here, the Bank supports its clients in making large-volume commercial property investments. The investment properties mostly comprise office buildings, hotels, shopping centres, logistics and residential property, as well as student apartments. In the Consulting/Services Bank segment, Aareal Bank Group supports businesses from the housing, property management and energy industries as a digitalisation partner – combining extensive advisory services and product solutions with traditional corporate banking services and deposit-taking. Subsidiary Aareon, a leading European consultancy and IT systems house for the property industry and its partners in the digital age, forms the third business segment. Aareon offers reliable, pioneering solutions in the fields of consulting, software and services to optimise IT-supported business processes, and to extend business models. The Aareon Smart World digital platform links businesses from the housing industry and related sectors with customers, staff and business partners, as well as connecting technical devices in apartments and buildings.
About smartlab Innovationsgesellschaft mbH
smartlab develops innovative electromobility services, products and concepts, consistently focusing on connecting charging infrastructure. The company’s aim is to establish a nationwide network in Germany, as well as interoperability with other market players throughout Europe. smartlab attaches particular value to user-friendliness for its mobility concepts, which is why the company draws upon practical experience gained in subsidised research projects. Its shareholders are Duisburger Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft, erdgas schwaben, Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, Stadtwerke Osnabrück, STAWAG, and Thüga.
