UNITI Mobility & Payment Forum: German retailers navigate a transforming market

The Hamburg event brought together leaders from across fuel retail, payments and emerging mobility to assess how the sector is adapting to challenging market conditions and technological innovation.

The UNITI Mobility & Payment Forum returned to Hamburg on 14–15 January, once again drawing fuel retailers, payment providers, mobility innovators and technology suppliers to what many describe as the sector’s annual class reunion. The programme, spanning CEO keynotes, deep‑dive workshops and two full days of panels, offered a clear snapshot of a market under pressure, but also one that is steadily reinventing itself around multi-service and digitalization.

Early in the conference, Achim Bothe, CEO of Aral, set out the economic landscape shaping operators’ priorities. In his keynote, he pointed to rising labour costs, higher prices driven by emissions trading and GHG quotas, and the regulatory uncertainty from Brussels as major stress factors for 2026. Bothe argued that operators must streamline operations, develop sharper network strategies and deliver stronger value propositions centred on lower‑emission fuels, high‑speed charging, convenience retail and car wash.

Interoperability: the industry’s biggest unresolved barrier

Across plenary sessions and workshops, interoperability emerged as an obstacle preventing mobility payments from scaling effectively. While EV charging, tolling, retail and mobility services expand, their underlying systems often remain siloed or built on proprietary standards.

This tension was articulated by Piers Horak, CEO of The ai Corporation, who described fleet and mobility payments as burdened by outdated backend infrastructures that make even modest upgrades difficult. Many issuers still operate systems originally designed decades ago, creating long lead times for change. The lack of standardisation means that each new service, whether EV charging or maintenance, requires bespoke integrations.

Horak highlighted the growing importance of the Visa and Mastercard fleet specifications, which he said could finally provide the shared foundation needed for cross‑border, multi‑service payment instruments. Workshops related to PSD3/PSR compliance, tax treatment of charging, and the transition from closed‑loop to open‑loop systems reinforced how critical standardisation will be for enabling new revenue models, particularly for SMEs and mixed fleets.

Digital-first customer journeys reshape the forecourt

Sessions throughout the programme underscored how customer behaviour is transforming the physical forecourt into a multi‑service digital hub. Fuel retailers increasingly operate at the intersection of convenience retail, coffee, car wash and EV charging, with payment acting as the bridge between these services.

“A good customer experience regarding payments is essential. Nobody likes to pay, so it has to be seamless,” explains Oliver Große Gehling, Head of Customer Care & Payment at Westfalen. The German multi-energy brand sees digitized fuel cards as a key step toward making payments effortless across all touchpoints, from fast chargers to stores to home wall‑boxes. 

Sandra Schütte, Westfalen’s Head of Mobility, added that electrification requires a full rethink of the customer experience. EV charging cannot be handled by cash or legacy processes, making digital-first journeys unavoidable. Workshops in Hamburg on seamless mobility, dynamic pricing and urban EV infrastructure reinforced how station operators must now think like digital service providers rather than traditional fuel retailers.

Digital payments accelerate

Another trend that surfaced across panels and technical sessions was the rapid shift from card-based to digital payment models. This was evident across workshops on automated retail, self-checkout, NFC authorisation and mobile-driven EV charging payments.

“The biggest payment trend we expect to see in 2026 is a further rise of digital payments, and less relevance for card-based payments,” Stephan Löffler, Head of Product Management and Marketing at Scheidt & Bachmann.

The tech supplier expects digital payments – including mobile wallets, peer‑to‑peer systems and embedded vehicle payments – to continue outpacing plastic cards. Rather than relying on legacy MIFARE-based systems, EV charging and fleet payments are increasingly moving toward stronger authentication methods that better protect against fraud. The company also sees ad‑hoc EV charging payments growing in relevance as customers favour spontaneous, frictionless usage over subscriptions or proprietary cards.

An industry preparing for its next phase

By the close of the second day, one conclusion stood out: payments are now shaping the very architecture of mobility. Interoperability, digital-first user journeys and AI-supported processes are no longer optional; they are prerequisites for competing in a market defined by electrification, diversification and rising consumer expectations. The discussions in Hamburg showed an industry that recognises both the scale of the challenge and the urgency of addressing it.