Freight payments
for European road transport
Payment handling for European road transport: structured payment requests, fraud checks and automatic EU VAT, all in one place.
What is CargoPay?
The payment platform for European road transport
How payment works
Agree how a load will be paid for before it moves, instead of turning delivery into the start of a wait
What it does:
- Structured payment requests: Build payment workflows tied to specific shipments: origin, destination, CMR reference, and agreed terms
- Secure payment delivery: Deliver payment links via verifiable email channels with full audit trail
- Live payment tracking: Monitor every status transition from DRAFT through AUTHORISED to CAPTURED
- Authorisation expiry: CLI-driven reminder system for pending authorisations approaching expiry
- B2B invoice generation: EU-compliant invoices auto-generated from captured charges with proper VAT treatment
How fast you get paid
Payment is agreed before the load moves and released on the condition you chose, instead of starting a wait when you invoice
Payment request statuses
Every status transition is validated, logged, and auditable
Payment workflows
Select the payment workflow that aligns with your lane risk profile and commercial relationship
Immediate payment
Full payment upfront
The full freight charge is taken before the shipment starts
- Funds released as soon as the payment clears
- Best for companies you have not worked with before
- Paid out to your Stripe account
- Nothing left to chase after delivery
The safest option for high-value or cross-border runs
Authorise & capture
Funds reserved upfront
Funds reserved at authorisation, captured only after proof of delivery
- 7-day authorisation window
- Card funds verified and held by Stripe
- Manual capture control after delivery confirmation
- Partial capture support for multi-stop shipments
Balance of security and operational flexibility
Deposit & balance
Staged payment control
Payment in stages: deposit upfront to fund operations, balance on delivery
- Configurable deposit percentage
- Deposit captured immediately upon authorisation
- Balance captured after proof of delivery
- Off-session balance capture via Stripe
Optimal for long-haul and complex multi-leg routes
7-day authorisation window
A longer authorisation window, set for how long European road runs actually take
Why 7 days?
European road freight shipments typically require 3-14 days for transit, customs clearance, and delivery confirmation. Our extended authorisation window ensures:
- Funds reserved: Payment is authorised and held by Stripe: not captured until you confirm delivery
- Delivery confirmation: Capture only after CMR signature and proof of delivery verification
- Inspection period: Adequate time for cargo inspection and damage assessment before funds release
- Partial capture: Release funds incrementally for multi-stop or cross-dock shipments
Logistics-Optimised
Standard payment processors offer 7-day authorization. CargoPay extends this to 7 days specifically calibrated for European road freight transit times.
Payment timeline
Day 0
Payment request created and sent to the other company
Day 1-3
The other company authorises payment: funds reserved by Stripe
Day 3-14
Shipment in transit: funds securely held, authorisation active
Day 14-21
Delivery confirmation, CMR signature, and cargo inspection
Day 21-28
Payment captured and paid to your Stripe account
Fraud prevention
Several layers of risk checks on every payment
Stripe Radar integration
- Real-time risk scoring on every transaction (0-100 scale)
- Machine learning models trained on global payment patterns
- Automatic risk level categorisation (low, medium, high, critical)
- Custom rules engine for lane-specific risk thresholds
AI-powered fraud detection across 135+ currencies
Device fingerprinting
- Unique device identification across payment sessions
- Cross-session behavioural tracking
- Suspicious device pattern detection and flagging
- Geolocation correlation with declared shipment routes
Device-level security at the payment gateway
Behaviour checks
- Transaction rate monitoring per company
- Amount pattern analysis against historical lane data
- Engagement scoring based on payment interaction patterns
- Anomaly detection for unusual payment behavior
Continuous behavior monitoring across the network
Rate limits
- Per-action type rate limits (create, authorize, capture, refund)
- User-type specific thresholds (carrier, shipper)
- Suspicious activity auto-blocking with escalation alerts
- Reputation-based threshold adjustments
Proactive abuse prevention at the platform level
EU rules handled for you
CargoPay automates European tax and regulatory requirements for cross-border freight
VIES VAT validation
Real-time EU VAT number verification via VIES SOAP API for all B2B cross-border transactions
Reverse charge
B2B intra-EU cross-border transactions handled per EU Directive 2006/112/EC: VAT liability shifts to the recipient
GDPR-compliant data handling
Organisation-scoped data access with comprehensive audit trails1,000-entry immutable logs per payment request
B2B invoice generation
EU-compliant invoices auto-generated from captured charges with correct VAT treatment per transaction type
27 EU Member States
Full regulatory coverage for European cross-border freight operations
Automatic EU VAT handling
CargoPay detects and applies the correct VAT treatment for every cross-border freight scenario
Domestic transport
Freight movement within a single EU member state
VAT treatment:
- Standard domestic VAT rate of the origin country applies
- Carrier invoices issued with local VAT included
- Automatic VAT calculation based on origin/destination routing
Example: Madrid→Barcelona (ES→ES): 21% Spanish VAT applied
Intra-EU Cross-Border
Freight movement between two EU member states
VAT treatment:
- Reverse-charge mechanism applies automatically
- VAT-exempt invoice with valid VIES confirmation
- Recipient accounts for VAT via domestic return in their jurisdiction
Example: Madrid→Berlin (ES→DE): 0% VAT (reverse-charge, VIES-validated)
Export transport
Freight movement from EU to non-EU destination
VAT treatment:
- VAT-exempt as export of services outside EU scope
- Customs export documentation support
- Proof of export tracking for audit compliance
Example: Valencia→London (ES→GB): 0% VAT (export exemption)
Import transport
Freight movement from non-EU origin to EU destination
VAT treatment:
- VAT due at point of import: handled by customs authority
- Customs integration support for import declarations
- Import VAT recovery guidance for eligible businesses
Example: London→Valencia (GB→ES): Import VAT due at Spanish customs
Automatic VAT detection
CargoPay automatically determines the correct VAT treatment by analysing:
Verified business network
Transact with confidence: every participant is verified before network access
KYC verification
Identity verification for all network participants
Address check
Google Places API verification of registered addresses
Document check
Company registration and CMR insurance validated
Reputation score
Trust indicators and performance metrics for safe transacting
What it runs on
Production-grade technology stack for reliable freight payment processing
Stripe Connect
Multi-tenant B2B payment architecture
PCI DSS level 1
Highest payment card security standard
Records that cannot be changed
1,000-entry comprehensive transaction logs
Real-time notifications
Email + Slack alerts for critical events
Ready to start?
Join carriers and shippers using CargoPay for structured, secure, and compliant payment workflows
€799 one-time registration · 1% per transaction