Wirecard, Spendit Expand Employee Card Reach Across Europe

Payments company Wirecard is broadening its existing partnership with Spendit to launch employee spend and benefits solutions across Europe, beginning with the expansion of its SpenditCard in the market.

In an announcement on its website, Wirecard said it will begin issuing the SpenditCard, which offers employers a tax-free benefit solution to manage employee spend. The card solution acts as a digital voucher that employers can offer as an alternative to pre-paid cards for employees. The solution is already available in Germany, but the partnership means Wirecard will begin issuing the card across new markets in Europe. The companies also noted that they plan to add new features to the solution.

“With the SpenditCard, we are setting new standards in the digitization of benefit programs,” said Wirecard Catharina Tiede, head of partner management for consumer goods, in a statement. “This partnership is an exciting opportunity to promote the use of consumer cards as a corporate incentive. We are delighted that, together with Spendit, we will soon be digitizing employee programs across Europe.”

Wirecard noted in the announcement that it is seeing an average 45 percent increase in employee spend on benefit cards.

“With a strong partner in the form of Wirecard, we can look forward to further increasing our customer numbers and to tapping into additional European markets,” said Spendit Founder Florian Gottschaller. “As the market leader, Wirecard is the ideal strategic partner for Spendit because it shares our vision of developing innovative products for global employers and continuing to drive forward the digitization of benefit products.”

Last month, Wirecard announced a partnership with Cognigy to develop digital payment capabilities integrated into chatbot conversations, allowing consumers to pay for items as they chat with a virtual sales assistant. Wirecard also recently expanded its existing collaboration with Mastercard to promote contactless payments via wearable devices.