Person looking at their phone while plugging in their electric vehicle

29 August 2025

Polar Moment’s Payments Perspective: August 2025

August’s top payments stories: securing new infrastructure against fraud, empowering startups with AI, and streamlining open banking payments.

Securing Unattended Payments for Electric Vehicle Charging

Unattended payment terminals are becoming prime targets for increasingly sophisticated fraudsters. This is especially true for EV charging. Vulnerabilities include outdated software, unprotected enclosures, and insecure payment flows — issues reminiscent of the early days of card payments.

In Planet Payment’s latest blog post, Polar Moment director, John Rozek, explores why unattended chargers are prime fraud targets, how modern criminals exploit them, and what operators can do to defend their infrastructure — before trust and revenue are lost.

Find out more here: Securing unattended payments: The growing challenge of fraud prevention in EV charging (opens in a new tab).

NatWest & Google Cloud Partner to Power UK Startups with AI

NatWest Group has teamed up with Google Cloud to give access to advanced AI tools, cloud infrastructure, and expert-led training to UK startups. This aligns with research showing that 92% of “future-ready” businesses use data analysis to guide key decisions. They are also nearly twice as likely to have implemented AI as their peers.

In addition to hands-on training, eligible startups will receive Google Cloud credits to help them build, test, and scale AI-driven solutions on secure infrastructure. The collaboration also features the £1 million NatWest Accelerator Pitch competition to identify and support the next wave of UK innovators.

Find out more here: NatWest and Google partner to empower UK startups with AI tools and training (opens in a new tab).

Payit & Prommt Enhance Open Banking Payments

Payit, NatWest’s open banking solution, has partnered with Prommt to deliver faster, more secure, and more cost-effective payment journeys for businesses. The integration allows merchants to send branded, pay-by-link requests via SMS, email, or web. It provides real-time notifications, instant fund confirmation, and improved reconciliation.


By combining Payit’s direct bank-to-bank payments with Prommt’s orchestration layer, businesses can dynamically choose the best payment method (Pay by Bank or card) based on transaction value. The solution reduces costs by avoiding card scheme fees. It boosts conversion rates with a streamlined customer experience, and improves security with bank-authenticated payments and confirmation of the payee.

Find out more here: Payit partners with Prommt to improve Open Banking payment features (opens in a new tab).