Your better price is with the eMSP
The CPO sets the ad-hoc price at the charging point — your eMSP contract often has cheaper terms, including roaming. Before charging, a look at your contract is worth it.
What is a Charge Point Operator (CPO)?
Why the CPO concerns you
Behind every column you charge at, an invisible Charge Point Operator (CPO) is at work — plus a few other players. They help decide whether the station charges, what ad-hoc payment costs and which charging cards work.
1. Definition: CPO stands for "charging point operator"
Charge Point Operator, or CPO in short, is the operator of the charging infrastructure. Simplified: a CPO makes sure that charging an electric vehicle runs as smoothly as possible.
Typical CPO tasks include:
- monitoring charging points via an IT backend
- fixing technical faults
- regular hardware maintenance
- the option to pay directly at the station — via payment terminal or ad-hoc QR code
- making charging points discoverable through location data, e.g. for navigation systems
Important: the CPO does not have to also be the owner of the station. The owner of the property — and thus the initiator of the offer — may be a real-estate company, a supermarket or a municipality; the CPO then carries the operational responsibility.
2. How it works
Every station is connected via the internet to a CPO's IT backend. This system enables the monitoring of charging sessions, billing and the management of charging points. At the same time the backend communicates with other systems — for example with payment service providers (PSPs). After all, paying at the station should work without hassle.
Another core area of CPO responsibility is setting the charging prices — the costs you pay for a charging session. These prices can vary by location and charging output.
Finally, the CPO is also responsible for connecting its own stations with other mobility service providers. This usually happens via roaming platforms (e.g. Hubject WAVE, Gireve) and guarantees that charging points of different operators can be used with different charging cards.
3. CPO vs. eMSP — the difference
The two terms are easily confused. Simply put, the eMSP is the charging card provider: it grants access to the charging infrastructure, while the CPO operates the infrastructure itself.
| Aspect | CPO (charging point operator) | eMSP (charging card provider) |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Charging hardware, operations, technology | Contract, customer account, billing |
| Tasks | operates, monitors, maintains, fault fixing, price setting at the charging point, ad-hoc payment | access via app and/or RFID charging card, tariff with contractually fixed prices, roaming across CPO boundaries, billing of the end customer |
| Where you see it | At the column: price, terminal, QR code | In your app and on the invoice |
| Typical examples | IONITY, Fastned, Aral pulse, EnBW, Shell, Stadtwerke | ADAC e-Charge, EnBW mobility+, E.ON e.Charge, Flix Mobility |
The E-Mobility Service Provider (eMSP) — also known as EMP (E-Mobility Provider) oder Mobile Billing Provider (MBS) (E-Mobility Provider) or Mobile Billing Provider (MBS) — is the fleet-charging provider: via roaming platforms it works with CPOs and handles billing with the end customer.
And the combination is possible: one company can take on both roles at the same time — acting as both CPO and eMSP (like, e.g., EnBW or E.ON).
4. Who is all involved in a charging session?
Between the column and your invoice, several roles are involved depending on the payment system. All eight at a glance:
| Role | Abbreviation / examples | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Owner of the charging station | Real-estate company, supermarket, municipality | decides where charging happens (property, location, investment decision) |
| Charge Point Operator | CPO — e.g. IONITY, Fastned, Aral pulse | operates, monitors and maintains the column; sets the prices at the charging point |
| eMSP | E-Mobility Service Provider — e.g. ADAC, EnBW, E.ON | offers charging contracts: access via app and/or charging card |
| PSP | Payment Service Provider — e.g. Visa, Mastercard | processes credit/debit card payment at the station |
| Roaming platform | e.g. Hubject (WAVE), Gireve | connects eMSPs and CPOs: roaming agreements, activation, data exchange |
| Clearing house | e.g. e.clearing (DE) | clears charging sessions between the partners |
| Ad-hoc charging provider | Cardless charging (terminal / QR code) | enables charging without a prior contract, directly at the station |
| End user | you | has the vehicle charged, via charging card, tap-to-pay or simply ad hoc by card; receives the invoice |
Not all eight every time
How many roles come into play depends on your path: if you charge via the ad-hoc terminal, only the CPO, the PSP and you are involved. If you charge by card with roaming, the roaming platform gets involved too. Billing then runs from the eMSP to you.
5. What this concretely means for you
Station down?
Technical faults, maintenance and availability are CPO matters. With ad-hoc payment, contact the operator — as a contract customer, your eMSP support helps first.
Why the station can be found in the first place
Charging-point data for navigation apps comes from the CPO's backend. Since the AFIR Regulation, CPOs must make this data accessible via the national data access point (Mobilithek).
6. How does the station communicate with the CPO?
The answer: via the open standard OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol). It is the shared "language" between charging infrastructure and backend, making stations of different manufacturers interchangeable for CPOs.
What OCPP is in detail and why an OCPP interface matters to you as a driver →
LadeGuide calculates which column with which tariff is cheapest for you
CPO prices, eMSP tariffs, ad-hoc variances — the app combines everything and works out the cheaper option for you.
Learn moreSources
- National charging infrastructure agency: Glossary (CPO, EMP/eMSP, charging session)
- Next Mobility: CPO and eMSP: role understanding, interoperability and the new market logic through AFIR (in German)
- Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur): Public charging infrastructure — obligations and ad-hoc charging (AFIR) (in German)