Wirecard and lastminute.com Announce Extended Partnership to Offer Multi-currency Visa Cards for Travelers

ASCHHEIM, Germany, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

- The solution will target around 10 million monthly users of the lastminute.com website  

- The partnership allows cardholders to load multiple currencies onto the lastminute.com Visa Card, avoiding currency conversion fees 

- Prepaid lastminute.com Visa Cards will be issued by Wirecard and can be used at millions of acceptance points worldwide 

Wirecard, the global innovation leader for digital financial technology, has extended its partnership with lastminute.com to offer multi-currency Visa Cards. The two companies have been collaborating in the field of acquiring as well as Supplier and Commission Payments (SCP) for subsidiaries of lastminute.com for several years. The new solution, known as the lastminute.com Visa Card, will allow travelers from next week onwards to pay in the local currency at millions of acceptance points worldwide, avoiding currency conversion fees. The widely-accepted Visa card will be also quickly reloadable, making it as convenient as possible for users to leverage on the cheapest exchange rates while traveling.

As issuer of the lastminute.com Visa Card, Wirecard will support main functions including card activation and reloading via the mobile app. In the lastminute.com dedicated, branded app, cardholders can manage their expenses via the multi-currency dashboard, view their transaction history, carry out wallet-to-wallet transfers, and even lock their cards if necessary.

Kathrin Klausa, Head of Product Management Sales Travel at Wirecard says, "As the global innovation driver for digital financial technology, it is essential to us to reduce barriers when paying electronically and digitally in a foreign currency. Offering digital solutions together with Visa and lastminute.com to make payments abroad easier is very exciting for us. Our extended partnership with lastminute.com shows our innovative drive and attention to the needs of the international travel market."

Sergio Signoretti, Chief Financial Officer at lastminute.com comments, "As we celebrate our 20th anniversary this year we are delighted to announce this modern and convenient payment solution backed by our trusted partners Wirecard and Visa, which will go a great way to enriching the lives of travelers. We want the card to become the preferential payment method on our properties to help the 10 million monthly users of our website save money and our lm cardholders gain exclusive advantages when using the card. We look forward to cooperating further with Wirecard in developing smart and innovative travel solutions for the next twenty years and further."

The lastminute.com Visa Card will offer many benefits to both novice and experienced travelers: cardholders will be able to use their cards to pay around the globe, while uploading it in British Pounds, US Dollars, and Euros. In addition, they will be able to use the cards to withdraw cash from Visa-branded ATMs and to complete online purchases. Additionally, the cooperation will enable travelers to take advantage of more competitive exchange rates and to travel cash-free. Finally, the lastminute.com Visa Card will offer some exclusive voucher rewards for early adopters of the card that can be used for their next trips - with a maximum of £250 in vouchers potentially up for grabs (t&cs apply).

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, 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 http://www.wirecard.com follow us on Twitter @wirecard and on Facebook @wirecardgroup.

About the lm group: 

lm group is among the worldwide leaders in the online travel industry and operates a portfolio of well-known brands such as lastminute.com, Volagratis, Rumbo, weg.de, Bravofly, Jetcost and Hotelscan. The Group's mission is to be the most relevant and inspiring travel company, committed to enriching the life of travelers. Every month, the Group touches 45 million users across all its websites and mobile apps (in 17 languages and 40 countries) who search for and book their travel and leisure experiences with us. More than 1,200 people enjoy working with us and contribute to providing our audience with a comprehensive and inspiring offering of travel related products and services. lastminute.com N.V. is a publicly traded company listed under the ticker symbol LMN on SIX Swiss Exchange.

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

lm group media contact:
Spider PR
Tel.: +44(0)207-403-6900
Email: travel@wearespider.com