Piers Horak, CEO of The AI Corporation, on how innovation is moving faster than standards.

Piers Horak, CEO of The AI Corporation

The rapid growth of electrification and connected vehicle data is fundamentally changing fleet mobility. Previously defined by fuel cards and mechanical maintenance, the sector is now evolving into a complex digital ecosystem. Mobility services such as EV charging, automated tolling, smart parking and real-time telematics are now integrated and digital by default.

A new wave of fintech providers, mobility platforms and specialised service providers has emerged amid this shift. They bring innovative payment architectures and management solutions designed to address the nuances of modern transport. However, beneath this surface-level innovation, a significant structural challenge is coming to a head. While the services themselves are evolving at breakneck speed, the underlying payment infrastructure is becoming increasingly fragmented. The industry is at a crossroads where the pace of innovation is outpacing the development of the standards needed to make these systems work together.

Interoperability in fleet mobility is not just a technical issue; it also involves governance, commercial strategy and system design. Many new mobility providers, such as EV charging networks and parking operators, develop proprietary systems optimised for their own operations. These systems often deliver strong internal performance but are rarely designed to connect with the wider ecosystem.

Advanced fintech solutions, including digital fleet wallets, vehicle-based authentication and AI-driven fraud monitoring, further complicate matters. While these tools address specific challenges within the mobility value chain, their design for particular operator networks limits scalability across markets and regulatory environments. As a result, the ecosystem remains fragmented despite rapid innovation.

What fragmentation means for fleet payments

Fleet payment fragmentation is especially challenging because, unlike retail payments centred on individual cardholders, fleet transactions are vehicle-based, often cross-border and require extensive data management, including driver authentication, spend controls and VAT reporting. Managing these transactions across multiple proprietary platforms creates significant administrative inefficiencies.

A structural imbalance exists – innovation is agile and fast, while standards require consensus, regulatory alignment and stability, resulting in slower progress. If this gap widens, the industry risks creating isolated systems that limit mobility, rather than enable it.

For fleet operators, this level of fragmentation leads to immediate challenges. Drivers need to use multiple access methods or apps and managers must perform manual reconciliation and deal with inconsistent data. This friction increases costs and slows the adoption of essential infrastructure. Difficulties in accessing or settling EV charging can discourage fleet managers from transitioning away from petrol and diesel engines, despite environmental or financial benefits.

Separating service delivery from payment settlement

To address this, the industry needs to separate service delivery from payment settlement. Leveraging existing open-loop payment infrastructure, such as global card scheme rails, provides worldwide acceptance, advanced fraud management and reliable cross-border settlement. Using these established systems as a foundation enables interoperability while allowing service providers to innovate.

A layered architecture provides a stable, globally interoperable payment backbone. An identity layer manages vehicle or driver authentication, while a mobility services layer handles transaction details such as energy usage, parking time, or tolls. A fleet management layer then offers controls, analytics and reconciliation tools.

Integrated innovation

This approach enables charging providers and software startups to innovate at the service level without redesigning financial settlement processes. It ensures that new transaction types remain compatible with global systems and shifts competition toward delivering the best service to fleets rather than maintaining restrictive proprietary solutions.

Achieving integrated innovation requires a shift in mindset among all stakeholders. Fleet operators, fintechs and regulators should prioritise open architectures and API-driven integration. The objective is to build flexible systems that support both rapid innovation and evolving standards.

Fleet mobility is at a critical stage in its digital transformation. The industry must choose between continuing with isolated solutions or adopting a unified infrastructure. To achieve seamless, connected mobility, payments must not be a barrier. Interoperability is now essential for the future of global fleet mobility. Without it, current innovations will remain limited in scale and impact.

Piers Horak is CEO of The AI Corporation (AI); a leading provider of retail fuel, mobility payments and fraud management solutions. Operating for over 28 years, AI has provided solutions worldwide to some of the largest energy and fuel providers, financial institutions and major payment service providers across a broad spectrum of industries.