Phone Charging Stations for Bars, Pubs and Restaurants
Guests rent a charged power bank at the end of the bar and keep their phone with them. Where a local operator serves your area, they install and service it under our standard terms, and you pay only for electricity.
Phones off the back bar
Guests tap a card, take a charged bank with Lightning and USB-C built in, and keep their phone with them. Bartenders stop running a phone-charging service behind the bar.
Charged for the ride home
The phone that paid the tab still has to book the ride. With a bank in a pocket, guests don't close out early to save battery.
Your staff just point
Guests rent and return on their own and get help from JB Charging, not your bartender. A bank that isn't returned is charged to the renter, never to the bar.
A phone charging station for bars takes over a job your bartenders already do for free: holding guests' phones behind the bar on a spare cable, at your risk. Guests rent a charged power bank instead and keep the phone in their pocket, from the stool to the ride home.
Why bar guests run out of battery
Bar guests run low late in the night, when the bar is three deep and nobody can watch a phone.
- Last call. Picture a Saturday after a late game. The guest booking her table's ride opens the app at 9% and sees a 20-minute wait. Without a bank, the careful move is to book now and leave. With one, the table stays to last call, and the bank goes back in its slot when the car is close.
- The tab and the ticket. The phone pays for the round, splits the check and holds the ticket for the show after.
- Game day. Three hours of scores, group chats and the other game streaming.
- Taprooms and beer gardens. An afternoon sit runs into trivia night, often out on the patio, far from an outlet.
- Restaurants with a busy bar. Dinner runs into the late game, or the kitchen stays open past 11.
When the phone gets low, the guest asks the bartender. Someone finds a cable and an outlet, and the phone sits by the ice well with three other black phones, in your custody, until somebody claims it. What that habit costs: should bartenders charge customers' phones?
How a guest rents a power bank
- Tap a card or phone (Apple Pay, Google Pay or any contactless card) on the reader, or scan the QR code. No app or account needed.
- Take a charged power bank with Lightning and USB-C cables built in, and charge at the bar, a booth or out on the patio.
- Return it to a free slot here or at any other JB Charging station (the app shows them). Billing stops on its own.
It takes about 30 seconds. The operator sets the price. At a common $3 per 30 minutes with a $20 daily maximum, a bank kept through the second half of a game, about 90 minutes, costs the guest $9.
Where to put a phone charging station in a bar
Two tests: guests can see it from a stool, and they pass it on the way to the restroom or the door. Then find a wall outlet within cord reach.
| Spot | Who passes | Station and placement |
|---|---|---|
| End of the bar, on the restroom path | Every guest, a few times a night | A J8 on a stand or wall mount just past the last stool, not on the bar top where drinks spill. |
| Host stand | Every diner, coming and going | A J8 on the guest side. Behind the stand, staff end up handing banks out. |
| Entrance | Everyone heading home | A J8 on a stand, or a J24 back to a wall in a big room. Clear of the exit path and the ID line. |
| Patio or beer-garden doorway | Guests heading outside | A J8 on the indoor side. The bank goes out; the station stays in. |
Skip the back hallway past the restrooms, exit paths and any spot that needs an extension cord.
Choosing a phone charging station for bars and restaurants
| Your venue | Start with | Add a station when |
|---|---|---|
| Bar, pub or sports bar | A J8 at the end of the bar | Guests find it empty on game days: add a J8 by the entrance |
| Taproom or brewery | A J8 at the patio doorway | Trivia fills the taproom while the patio is busy: add a J8 inside |
| Restaurant with a busy bar or a late kitchen | A J8 at the host stand | Bar guests walk over to rent: add a J8 at the end of the bar |
| Two floors or rooms | A J8 in each | One keeps running empty: give it the next station |
| One big room with a few hundred guests | A J24 by the entrance or restrooms | The far end doesn't walk over: add a J8 there |
| Quick-service counter | No station | Guests leave within 20 minutes; an outlet or two near the counter will do |
- J8 Pro: 8 banks, about 9 x 9 inches and 16 inches tall, 10-inch touchscreen. No counter to spare? Use a floor stand or wall mount.
- J24 Pro: 24 banks in a 71-inch tower on a 14 x 18-inch footprint, 24-inch screen.
What your staff do (and don't)
The bar provides a spot, a standard wall outlet and the electricity; the station has its own 4G, with Wi-Fi only as a backup. Staff don't hand out banks, take payments or chase returns. The operator monitors the station remotely, restocks it and handles repairs.
Their whole job is one answer, for the guest who asks for a charge:
"We don't hold phones behind the bar anymore, but there's a station at the end of the bar. Tap your card, take a bank, and drop it back on your way out."
- Tell your operator your big nights so the station starts game day full, and agree who staff text if it's empty or offline.
- A dead phone can't tap. A guest at 0% needs a physical card, so keep a house rule: anyone with no way home gets a ride called.
- A perk for the team. Staff who register with the station's staff code get a free rental each day, within a weekly limit.
Hosting terms in plain words
Everything is agreed in writing before install.
- Who does the work. Where one serves your area, a local, independent JB Charging operator supplies, installs, stocks and services the station and signs the agreement with you. If none does yet, we'll tell you.
- What it costs. Under our standard terms, nothing beyond electricity; the operator is paid from rentals and any screen ads it sells. Many venues host a station as a guest amenity; others negotiate a share of rental revenue, paid monthly by direct deposit.
- Term and exit. Our standard agreement runs 6 months, then month to month on 30 days' notice, with free removal. The bar isn't liable for guest theft or misuse and agrees not to host a competing charger during the term. Operators may propose other terms; check them, including what counts as a competing charger, with our agreement checklist.
- The screen. Beyond the price and the rent button, the operator controls it. Ask for a say in what runs there (your trivia night, yes; the bar down the street, no), in writing.
- Or own your stations. Buy them and you're the operator: you set the price, restock, and keep 80% of rental revenue before your own costs (JB keeps 20% for payment processing, 4G and support). Stations and list prices.
To start, request a station with your venue name, city, weekend closing time and busy-night crowd. We'll reply with whether an operator serves your area, and the terms.
Run charging stations yourself? Read our bar playbook for operators.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a phone charging station cost a bar?
Under our standard hosting terms it costs nothing beyond the electricity it uses, where an operator serves your area. A local, independent operator on the JB Charging network supplies, installs, stocks and services the station, and is paid from guest rentals and any screen ads it sells. The electricity is small. A J8 runs on a 60-watt adapter, so even if it drew that much around the clock it would use about 43 kWh a month, which is under $10 at 20 cents per kWh. A J24 tower is rated at 160 watts, so the same worst case is about 115 kWh, roughly $23 a month at that rate, and more where power costs more. If you'd rather own stations, list prices at the time of writing are around $1,200 for a J8 Pro and about $3,300 for a J24 Pro tower, plus shipping. There are no monthly fees. JB Charging keeps 20% of rental revenue, and you restock and service the stations yourself.
What happens if a guest walks out with a power bank?
The guest's card pays, never the bar. Billing follows the station's pricing up to its daily maximum. By default, a bank that isn't back within 24 hours triggers a $40 non-return fee charged to the renter, who then keeps the bank. The operator can set a different window and fee. Guests can return a bank to any JB Charging station, but where yours is the only one nearby, that means bringing it back to your bar. The banks belong to the operator, and our standard venue agreement says the bar isn't liable for theft or misuse by guests.
Do my bartenders have to do anything?
Day to day, no. Guests rent and return banks themselves, the station shows the steps in pictures, and renters get help from JB Charging through the machine, the app or the receipt, not from your bartender. The operator restocks and services the station, and the operator's dashboard flags it if it goes offline or runs low on charged banks. Staff only need to know where it is. Staff who register with the station's staff code get a free rental each day, within a weekly limit.
How much do guests pay, and will they pay to charge?
The operator sets pricing for each station. A common setting is $3 per 30 minutes with a $20 daily maximum, so 90 minutes costs $9. Guests tap a contactless card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, or scan the QR code, and no app is needed. Most guests won't need a bank, and nothing changes for them. The one who taps is the guest at 5% with a ride to book. To make charging feel like a house perk, ask your operator about a free first period of up to an hour. Normal pricing applies after that, and whether they offer it is agreed in writing before install.
Does a charging station work in a restaurant?
In the right one. Stations do best where guests stay a while and stay late: restaurants with a busy bar, late-night kitchens and places that fill up for games. Put the station at the host stand, on the guest side, so diners pass it coming and going. A 20-minute wait for a table isn't enough on its own. At a quick-service counter where guests eat and leave, an outlet or two near the counter serves them better.
Who do we call if the station is empty or offline on a Saturday night?
Your operator. Their dashboard flags a station that goes offline, has its card reader down or runs low on charged banks. Before install, agree a restock schedule and a number your staff can text, and put both in the agreement. Tell them your big nights so the station starts game day full. Guests with a rental problem get help from JB Charging through the machine, the app or the receipt, not from your staff.
Does the station need our Wi-Fi?
Usually not. Every station we sell has a built-in 4G connection, included at no charge, and takes payment on its own card reader. Wi-Fi is a backup for a basement bar or another spot where cell signal is weak. There's no monthly fee to the bar.
What about lithium batteries, the fire marshal and insurance?
The power banks carry FCC, CE and RoHS markings, and those are the marks we can document today. They charge in their own slots in the station, which plugs straight into a standard wall outlet with no extension cord and stays clear of exits. If your insurer or fire marshal requires a specific listing, check with them before install. JB Charging carries general liability insurance of $2 million per occurrence, and on request a bar can be named as an additional insured. Your operator is an independent local business, so ask them for their own certificate too.