MUNICH, November 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

• eurotrade Flughafen München Handels-GmbH will gain access to over 600 million monthly active WeChat Pay users 
• Sales figures back up the trend of offering payment methods for Chinese tourists  

Wirecard, the international technology company, is expanding its collaboration with eurotrade Flughafen München Handels-GmbH, a subsidiary of Flughafen München GmbH, in point-of-sale (POS) payment processing in order to offer WeChat Pay at the Munich airport. As a wholly owned retail subsidiary of Flughafen München GmbH, eurotrade operates some 70 shops at Munich's airport. The premium brand portfolio is also targeted towards Chinese customers. This target group is increasingly gaining in importance. To cater to their needs, eurotrade will now become the first supplier in Germany to accept WeChat Pay after successfully integrating Alipay into its till systems in July 2016.

WeChat Pay has over 600 million active users per month and is part of the Chinese company Tencent, which ranks among the top five internet companies worldwide. WeChat Pay has a market share of almost 40% in terms of payment volume and around 53% for mobile payment transactions in China [in the third quarter 2017, according to iResearch]. With the launch of WeChat Pay, eurotrade Flughafen München Handels-GmbH will appeal to a wide target group.

More than two million Chinese tourists travel to Germany annually and shop for renowned luxury brands. In 2015 alone, Chinese tourists spent USD 292 billion in foreign countries. The eurotrade Flughafen München Handels-GmbH can confirm that most of this spending is for shopping. The company has already seen positive results after introducing Alipay: In the first three months since the launch of the new payment method, the average amount spent by Chinese tourists in eurotrade stores has increased by 92%. Furthermore, since then visitors from China have spent around 280% more than average consumers in duty free shops.

Sven Zahn, Managing Director of eurotrade Flughafen München Handels-GmbH: "It was pretty easy to make the decision to also offer WeChat Pay as a new payment method because of the excellent results we've seen with Alipay. In addition Chinese visitors plan their trips to Europe, including shopping lists, far in advance. This is why it is important for us to also use the marketing platforms that mobile payment apps offer us. Following Alipay, the adoption of WeChat Pay highlight our commitment to offering a holistic payment service for international visitors in general and for Chinese visitors more specifically."

Christian Reindl, Executive Vice President Sales Consumer Goods at Wirecard, adds: "As the first WeChat Pay partner for POS acceptance in Europe, we are proud to be expanding our collaboration with eurotrade Flughafen München Handels-GmbH. Thanks to our flexible payment platform, we have been able to achieve this quickly and easily."

Chinese visitors who want to make mobile cashless payments with WeChat Pay need to follow three simple steps: The user opens the WeChat or Weixin app and selects the item from the wallet feature. This creates a QR code. The retailer scans this code to initiate the payment process. Meanwhile, Wirecard assumes payment acceptance and handles all processing.

About Wirecard:  

Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us on Twitter @wirecard.

About Munich Airport (munich-airport.de/en):  

Flughafen München GmbH (FMG) was established in 1949 and operates Munich airport, which was opened in its current location on 17 May 1992. The Free State of Bavaria (51%), the Federal Republic of Germany (26%) and the city of Munich, State Capital of Bavaria (23%) are FMG's shareholders. Across the group, FMG employs over 9,000 staff in 15 subsidiaries. Munich airport is one of the biggest employers in Bavaria, with around 35,000 employees at 550 companies. Within a few years of commencing operations, Munich airport has become a significant air traffic hub and has firmly established itself as one of the top ten airports in terms of highest traffic. Today, Munich airport offers connecting flights to over 250 destinations worldwide. In 2016, around 400,000 flights with over 42 million passengers were recorded. Munich was the first and remains the only European airport to be awarded the "5-Star Airport" rating by London-based aviation institute Skytrax.

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About eurotrade Flughafen München Handels-GmbH: 

eurotrade Flughafen München Handels GmbH was founded in 1973 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Flughafen München GmbH (FMG). With around 1,200 employees, eurotrade operates approximately 70 retail shops at Munich Airport, which amounts to 13,586 square metres, as well as one duty free shop in Friedrichshafen. eurotrade sets itself apart through exceptional retail expertise in four areas, which include 22 duty free shops, 16 fashion stores, 15 press, travel and souvenir retailers including household products, and 11 watch and jewellery specialists. In proprietary and franchise concepts, eurotrade offers passengers high quality and regional products from both national and international brands, with individual shop concepts that truly shape the experience and world of shopping at Munich Airport.

Wirecard media contact:

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

eurotrade Flughafen München Handels-GmbH media contact:

eurotrade Flughafen München Handels-GmbH
Stefan Koenen
Tel.: +49(0)89-975-93608
Email: stefan.koenen@munich-airport.de    

SOURCE Wirecard AG