What to Ask Before Adding a Power Bank Station

Before you sign anything, get six questions answered: what it costs you, which hardware footprint actually fits your space, what the venue agreement commits you to, who fixes it when it breaks, what happens if a guest's payment goes wrong, and whether it will get used at all. A powerbank station is a low-risk amenity under most models, but low-risk is not the same as no-questions-asked, and the venues that get the most out of one are the ones who asked before they said yes.

What does it cost you to install one?

On the standard model, nothing upfront. The station, the powerbanks and the software belong to whichever Brick partner runs your market, not to you. Your side of the deal is space, visibility and a plug socket, not a purchase order. Partners set their own pricing and commercial terms market by market, so the exact shape of the arrangement, standard pay-per-rental for guests, or a fully free-to-guest setup some venues negotiate, is a question for the specific partner sitting across the table, not something a general article can answer for every market. Ask directly: is this free to my guests or do they pay per rental, and does either option change what I owe you.

Which footprint actually fits your venue?

Brick's current lineup splits into two families, and the split maps straight onto floor space. Tabletop stations (Base, Core, Core+) sit on a counter or stand and default to 8 slots. Freestanding stations (Tower, Skyscraper) stand on the floor and hold far more: the Tower runs roughly 24 slots behind a 22-inch screen, the Skyscraper roughly 48 slots behind a 42-inch screen. A bar or a boutique hotel reception rarely needs floor-standing capacity; an airport concourse or a mall atrium usually does.

The screen and payment layer matter as much as the slot count. Core+ pairs an 8-inch screen with a built-in card reader, so a guest taps to rent in under 10 seconds with no app required. Core carries the same screen without the reader, useful where you want a communication surface without payment hardware on the unit itself. Base skips the screen entirely and relies on a backlit panel and a QR code, the cheapest way to get charging onto a counter. Brick's full 2026 hardware lineup breaks down the spec differences if you want the comparison before the meeting.

What are you actually agreeing to?

A verbal yes is not how this runs. Installing a station means signing a venue agreement, and it is worth reading in full rather than skimming it at the table. The terms that matter to you: you are not liable for damage to the station itself, the partner restocks powerbanks as needed, and the partner replaces a station that breaks. In return, you commit to keeping the station somewhere visible and reachable and to cleaning it as part of normal venue upkeep. Most agreements also carry exclusivity: while the agreement stands, no other powerbank sharing operator can place a competing station in your venue. That is standard in the category, but it is a real commitment, so know the term length and the exit terms before you sign, not after.

Who fixes it, and what voids the warranty?

Ask this before day one, because the answer depends on cause. New stations carry a 1-year factory warranty against manufacturing or shipping faults. What it does not cover: a station dropped on the floor, one left outside in the sun or rain, liquid contact (a poured drink is the standard case), or theft. The full warranty terms spell out exactly which failures are covered and which are not, a five-minute read that avoids an awkward conversation later. Outside the warranty itself, the venue-facing support Brick describes in its own partner materials is a WhatsApp line reaching a person in the venue's own time zone, with faults attended to within hours rather than days, running on technology built in-house rather than outsourced to a third party. Ask the specific partner in your market to confirm that channel is live before you rely on it.

What happens when a guest's payment goes wrong?

This is the question venue staff actually get asked, so it is worth having the answer ready before it comes up. Brick's published service model runs on a 100% refund policy: a genuine issue with a rental auto-refunds, and staff are not the ones adjudicating the complaint or processing it by hand. That matters more than it sounds. The single biggest objection Brick hears from bar and restaurant staff about charging phones themselves is not wanting to be responsible for a guest's device, or their money, if something goes wrong. A station that resolves its own payment disputes removes exactly that friction, which is the point of putting one behind the counter instead of an outlet.

Will it actually get used?

This is the question worth asking yourself, not the partner. In a GfK study run for retail charging provider ChargeItSpot, shoppers who used an in-store phone charging station browsed roughly twice as long, converted 54% more often, and spent 29% more at checkout than shoppers who did not (via Forbes, 2017). Separate research from Path Intelligence found that a 1% increase in in-store dwell time correlated with a 1.3% increase in sales. Neither study is about powerbank stations specifically, but the mechanism is the one Brick's own dwell-time research covers in more detail: a dead phone cuts a visit short. Venues that already field constant "can you charge my phone" requests behind the bar are the ones where a station gets used from week one, not the ones installing one speculatively.

The six questions to bring to that first call

1. Is this free to my guests, or pay-per-rental, and what does either option change for me?
2. Given my floor space and foot traffic, does a tabletop unit cover it or do I need a freestanding one?
3. What exactly does the venue agreement commit me to, and for how long, including exclusivity?
4. What voids the warranty, and who pays for a repair that falls outside it?
5. What is the actual support channel and response time if a station goes down on a Friday night?
6. If a guest disputes a charge, who handles it, me or you?

Every one of those has a real answer. None of them should still be open by the time you sign. Brick runs roughly 4,000 venues across 25+ countries already, so the partner in your market has almost certainly answered these exact questions before. Get in touch about a station for your venue and get the specifics for your space, not the general ones.

FAQ

Does adding a powerbank station cost the venue anything upfront?

No, under the standard model. The station, the powerbanks and the software belong to the partner running your market. Your commitment is space, visibility and upkeep, not a purchase.

What is the difference between tabletop and freestanding stations?

Tabletop stations (Base, Core, Core+) sit on a counter and default to 8 slots. Freestanding stations (Tower, Skyscraper) stand on the floor and hold roughly 24 and 48 slots, aimed at higher-traffic venues like airports and malls.

Am I liable if the station gets damaged?

Under the standard venue agreement, no. You are not responsible for damage to the station itself. The partner replaces stations that break and restocks powerbanks as needed. What is required of you is keeping it visible, reachable and reasonably clean.

Does signing a venue agreement mean exclusivity?

Most venue agreements include exclusivity: while the agreement stands, no other powerbank sharing operator can place a competing station in your venue. Check the term length and exit terms before signing.

What happens if a guest has a problem with their rental?

Brick's published service model auto-refunds genuine guest issues rather than routing the complaint through venue staff to resolve manually.