Wirecard and Tirol Werbung launch joint China Pay Initiative

Aschheim (Munich) (ots) -

- Chinese payment solutions to be introduced in Tyrolean businesses
thanks to Wirecard
- 150 Tyrolean merchants are already on board with the implementation
to expand their service offering

Wirecard, the global innovation leader for digital financial
technology, and Tirol Werbung, the tourism organization of the
Austrian state of Tyrol, are launching a new China Pay Initiative
together with partners Innsbruck Tourism, Kitzbühel Tourism, the
Kufsteinerland Tourism Association, Ötztal Tourism, the St. Anton
Tourism Association and the Swarovski Kristallwelten. The initiative
will enable a state-wide coverage of Wirecard's mobile payment
solution, integrating the most popular Chinese mobile payment methods
into numerous Tyrolean companies. Initially, 150 businesses in the
region will be equipped with the solution.

According to a Nielsen study, around 91 percent of Chinese
tourists would be willing to spend and buy more abroad if more
merchants accepted Chinese mobile payment methods. With this
initiative, Wirecard and Tirol Werbung are therefore addressing the
preferences of this target group. The state of Tyrol wants to offer
Alipay, among others, as a payment option in as many businesses as
possible. Wirecard is responsible for the entire payment integration
and processing operations.

A 2018 report found that total spending by Chinese tourists in
Austria had increased by 28 percent over the previous year, making
China the top spending country for tax-free purchases in the Alpine
nation among non-European countries. With a share of 30 percent of
all tax-free sales in Austria, China clearly ranks first, ahead of
Russia (10 percent) and Switzerland (8 percent). While the average
non-European tourist spent 508 euros, visitors from China spent an
average of 616 euros per purchase.

Holger Gassler, Market Manager of Tirol Werbung, said, "We expect
to gain a competitive advantage as the first Austrian province to
introduce Chinese mobile payment methods on a large scale. Payment
convenience plays a major role for this target group in particular
and can make both the region and participating merchants more
attractive to Chinese tourists. The introduction of Wirecard's
digital payment platform is also one of the first projects within the
scope of Tyrol's digitization campaign."

Roland Toch, Managing Director CEE at Wirecard, added, "Experience
shows that accepting Alipay as a new payment method can lead to an
increase in transaction volume with travelers from China of more than
350 percent within one year. We are proud to partner with Tirol
Werbung to offer our digital payment solution to hundreds of
companies and to continue the digitization of their payment
processes. We look forward to expanding our partnership with Tyrol
and other European regions in the future."

About Wirecard:

Wirecard (GER:WDI) is one of the world's fastest growing digital
platforms in the area of financial commerce. We provide both business
customers and consumers with a constantly expanding ecosystem of
real-time value-added services built around innovative digital
payments by using an integrated B2B2C approach. This ecosystem
concentrates on the areas payment & risk, retail & transaction
banking, loyalty & couponing, data analytics & conversion rate
enhancement in all sales channels (online, mobile, ePOS). Wirecard
operates regulated financial institutions in several key markets and
holds issuing and acquiring licenses from all major payment and card
networks. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (DAX
and TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060). Visit us on www.wirecard.com, follow
us on Twitter @wirecard and on Facebook @wirecardgroup.

About Tirol Werbung:

With 12.3 million guests arriving from more than 50 countries and
49.4 million overnight stays in the year 2017/18, Tyrol is one of the
leading holiday destinations in the Alps with 34 regional
associations. Tirol Werbung GmbH, based in Innsbruck, is the regional
tourism organization. The organization focuses on further enhancing
Tyrol's image and international status, as well as the positioning
the region as the most sought-after destination in the Alpine world.
In addition, Tirol Werbung GmbH carries out basic tourism support,
such as market research, manages the tourism marketing system,
assists guests, and supports market partners. Visit us at
www.tirolwerbung.at

Contact:
Wirecard media contact:
Wirecard AG
Jana Tilz
Tel.: +49 (0) 89 4424 1363
Email: jana.tilz@wirecard.com

Media contact Tirol Werbung:
Tirol Werbung GmbH
Florian Neuner
Tel.: +43 (0) 664 80532320
Email: florian.neuner@tirolwerbung.at

Original-Content von: Wirecard AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell