LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX), a leading provider of corporate payment solutions, today announced its European office has secured an Electronic Money Institute (EMI) license by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and, as a result, is now a principal member of Mastercard.
The EMI license enables WEX to offer credit and therefore the full product suite, in all 31 countries in the European Economic Area, which according to the latest figures from PhocusWright, is a travel market worth an estimated €273 billion. This new license accelerates WEX’s European expansion plans, which have been a core part of the global strategy of the virtual payments line of business.
“Having our own e-money license and becoming a principal member of Mastercard are key elements of our European strategy,” said Ian Johnson, Commercial Director Europe, at WEX. “Almost all businesses are looking for effective ways to manage supplier payments, and we are pleased to provide our full range of products and credit services across EEA."
He continued, “We’re always looking for ways to deliver more service to our customers and this enables us to do so yet again: being the card issuer ourselves makes us more agile in the marketplace and with the widest product portfolio in this space we are able to make significant savings for our customers. We’re very customer focused and strongly believe that this move will make us an even more valuable partner to them.”
WEX pioneered virtual payments in 2000, and the company remains focused on serving the global travel industry where it has an extensive customer base. WEX virtual payments are available in all major international currencies, and as credit, debit and prepaid cards, which minimise foreign exchange costs and help customers to maximise per booking profitability. WEX virtual payments are already being used in 210 countries and territoties worldwide and in more than 150 currencies. For more information on WEX’s solutions in Europe, please visit www.wexvirtualpayments.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding: management’s expectations for European expansion plans; and, the usefulness of the recently obtained Electronic Money Institute (EMI) license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and of being a principal member of Mastercard. Any statements that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, the words "may," "could," "anticipate," "plan," "continue," "project," "intend," "estimate," "believe," "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such words. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including: the effects of general economic conditions on fueling patterns as well as payment and transaction processing activity; the impact of foreign currency exchange rates on the Company’s operations, revenue and income; changes in interest rates; the impact of fluctuations in fuel prices; the effects of the Company’s business expansion and acquisition efforts; potential adverse changes to business or employee relationships, including those resulting from the completion of an acquisition; competitive responses to any acquisitions; uncertainty of the expected financial performance of the combined operations following completion of an acquisition; the ability to successfully integrate the Company's acquisitions, including Electronic Funds Source LLC's operations and employees; the ability to realize anticipated synergies and cost savings; unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from an acquisition; the Company's failure to successfully operate and expand ExxonMobil's European and Asian commercial fuel card programs; the failure of corporate investments to result in anticipated strategic value; the impact and size of credit losses; the impact of changes to the Company's credit standards; breaches of the Company’s technology systems or those of our third-party service providers and any resulting negative impact on our reputation, liabilities or relationships with customers or merchants; the Company’s failure to maintain or renew key agreements; failure to expand the Company’s technological capabilities and service offerings as rapidly as the Company’s competitors; failure to successfully implement the Company’s information technology strategies and capabilities in connection with its technology outsourcing and insourcing arrangements and any resulting cost associated with that failure; the actions of regulatory bodies, including banking and securities regulators, or possible changes in banking or financial regulations impacting the Company’s industrial bank, the Company as the corporate parent or other subsidiaries or affiliates; the impact of the Company’s outstanding notes on its operations; the impact of increased leverage on the Company's operations, results or borrowing capacity generally, and as a result of acquisitions specifically; the incurrence of impairment charges if our assessment of the fair value of certain of our reporting units changes; the uncertainties of litigation; as well as other risks and uncertainties identified in Item 1A of our Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2016, filed on Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 6, 2017 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2017 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 8, 2017. The Company's forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential future impact of any alliance, merger, acquisition, disposition or stock repurchases. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this earnings release and undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About WEX Inc.
WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX) is a leading provider of
corporate payment solutions. From its roots in fleet card payments
beginning in 1983, WEX has expanded the scope of its business into a
multi-channel provider of corporate payment solutions representing more
than 10 million vehicles and offering exceptional payment security and
control across a wide spectrum of business sectors. WEX serves a global
set of customers and partners through its operations around the world,
with offices in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, the
United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Norway, and Singapore. WEX and
its subsidiaries employ more than 2,700 associates. The Company has been
publicly traded since 2005, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange
under the ticker symbol “WEX.” For more information, visit www.wexinc.com and
follow WEX on Twitter at @WEXIncNews.
