In short: for most hospitality and leisure businesses, yes. A powerbank station is extra income with no investment and no effort for your staff. You provide a small spot and a power socket. The station handles the rest, fully automatically. Your guests charge their phones at the table, stay longer and order more, and depending on the route you take, you get either a share of the revenue or all of it. In this article you'll see what it actually does for your business and the two routes open to venues.
In brief
For most bars, restaurants and cafés a powerbank station pays off: guests with a charged phone stay longer, staff no longer have to charge phones behind the bar, and the station runs without any effort. The venue only needs a small spot and a power socket.
Contents
The problem: guests with a flat battery leave earlier
The smartphone is now our main companion in everyday life: paying, navigation, tickets, photos, getting home. So a flat battery isn't a minor annoyance, it's a real reason to leave early. That's exactly where a powerbank station comes in. It keeps your guests connected, and so keeps them at your table or bar for longer.
Then there's the everyday classic: "Can I just charge my phone?" Until now that has meant a cable behind the bar, a charger that's always in use, discussions and, if things go wrong, a liability issue. With a station, that's a thing of the past. No more phones behind the bar.
What it actually does for your business
- Longer stays = more orders. People who charge their phone stay noticeably longer on average. In hospitality that translates directly into extra orders, often the most valuable effect of all.
- Extra income without risk. Depending on the route, you keep the income yourself or receive a share of the revenue as a location partner, with zero investment and zero running costs.
- No effort for staff. The station works completely on its own. Guests borrow, pay and return directly at the terminal. Your team doesn't have to explain, plug in or take payment for anything.
- A modern service image. A professional station signals that you think about your guests. Younger audiences in particular expect services like this in modern venues.
- A small but real competitive edge. In a city with lots of bars, "they've got powerbanks there" is sometimes exactly why guests come to you.
Two routes for venues
You have two options, depending on whether you want to invest yourself or start with no effort at all:
Route 1: you buy the station yourself
You buy a station for your own venue (for example with the Solo package) and receive 80% of net rental income, with no share for a location partner. That makes sense if you believe in your location and want to take the full income. The monthly payout arrives in your account automatically, with a proper credit note for your bookkeeping.
Route 2: you become a location partner
You don't invest a cent. A licensee sets up the station at your venue, and depending on the agreement you can receive a share of the revenue, with no purchase, no running costs and no effort. It's the easiest way in if you first want to see, without obligation, how your guests take to the station.
Which route suits you better depends on your location and how much risk you're comfortable with. We'll look at it together in a short assessment. There's more on the For venues → page.
Which venues benefit most
Top locations have three things in common: long stays, heavy smartphone use and batteries running low in the evening.
- Cocktail bars and late-night venues: batteries reliably die after a few hours.
- Restaurants with evening and weekend trade: long stays at the table, and families often share one charger.
- Leisure venues (bowling, billiards, clubs): very long stays and lots of photos. In our experience, stations perform best here.
- Hotel lobbies and hotel bars: travellers often arrive with a flat battery and no cable of their own.
- Cafés with a co-working feel: laptop and phone in use at the same time, often for several hours.
It's harder for daytime-only venues without evening trade, and for coffee-to-go shops and bakeries. There, people don't stay long enough.
What you need to do (almost nothing)
- Provide a small spot somewhere visible, for example on the bar counter.
- A normal 230 V power socket nearby. The station has its own mobile connection (4G/LTE) and needs no Wi-Fi from you.
- Point guests to the station now and then. That's it. Visibility at the table increases use significantly, and we supply promotional material.
Power consumption is a few cents a day, we handle monitoring around the clock, and we fix 95% of possible problems with a software update before anyone even notices.
Frequently asked questions
Does it create work for my staff?
No, none at all. The station works fully automatically. Guests borrow, pay contactless and return directly at the terminal. Your team doesn't have to do anything.
What does it cost me as a location partner?
Nothing. As a location partner you don't invest anything and have no running costs. Whether you also get a share of the revenue is something you agree with the licensee.
How much space and power does the station need?
Just a small spot, for example on the bar counter, and a normal power socket. Thanks to the built-in SIM card no Wi-Fi is needed, and power consumption is a few cents a day.
Is it safe in terms of fire protection?
Yes. Professional hardware is certified to UN38.3, CE, RoHS and FCC and meets the EU Battery Regulation.