Wirecard and Tirol Werbung Launch Joint China Pay Initiative

ASCHHEIM, Germany, Feb. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- 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

Wirecard media contact:

Wirecard AG
Jana Tilz
Tel.: +49(0)89-4424-1363
Email: [email protected] 

Media contact Tirol Werbung:

Tirol Werbung GmbH
Florian Neuner
Tel.: +43(0)664-80532320
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Wirecard AG

Related Links

http://www.wirecard.com