Wirecard Expands Presence in Mexico

• Wirecard, in collaboration with Banca Afirme, is equipping television channel Canal 22 with innovative payout product Afirme E-Fectiva
• Afirme E-Fectiva supports Canal 22 for e-commerce payments, POS spend, and ATM withdrawals

ASCHHEIM, Germany, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wirecard, the global innovation leader for digital financial technology, and Banca Afirme, a Mexican financial institution with a nationwide presence, are collaborating to equip television station Canal 22 with employee payout products for e-commerce payments, Point-of-Sale (POS) spend, and ATM cash withdrawals.

Wirecard and Banca Afirme are long standing partners working together to implement and market payout products, branded as Afirme E-Fectiva, in Mexico. The cooperation comes at a time when the Mexican government is strongly supporting cashless initiatives through multiple Ministry-run programs.

Operated by the Ministry of Culture, Canal 22 focuses its programming on cultural and educational themes, airing across Mexico and the United States. As part of the cooperation, Wirecard and Banca Afirme will equip Canal 22 with contactless Mastercard cards. Cardholders can use cards to pay for their travel and other work-related expenses in an entirely cashless way, and without relying on personal bank accounts.

Afirme E-Fectiva cards support e-commerce and POS payments, along with ATM withdrawals. Canal 22 benefits from key features such as streamlined administration of disbursements, bulk loading of payout cards, and an overall reduction of overhead costs, through a robust administration tool called Afirme Payout. Through this cooperation, and in alliance with Banca Afirme, Wirecard is expanding its presence in Mexico for corporate and public sector clients.

"Thanks to Banca Afirme and Wirecard we are streamlining internal processes and implementing spending policies, while giving employees more flexibility when it comes to work-related expense management," commented a Canal 22 Administration representative. "We are happy to have knowledgeable and experienced partners like Banca Afirme and Wirecard by our side to launch our first-ever payout card project, and we look forward to expanding our cooperation."

"We are excited to collaborate with Canal 22, one of Mexico's strongest public television stations," added Florian Ungethuem, Managing Director North America at Wirecard. "Through our cooperation with Canal 22 we are not only strengthening our presence in Mexico, but also supporting national initiatives such as the drive towards a cashless society and financial inclusion."

Cardholders do not need a bank account to use Afirme E-Fectiva cards, making them an appropriate solution for unbanked people. As Mexico continues on a path towards greater financial inclusion, a significant part of the population remains unbanked. Afirme E-Fectiva cards offer many benefits to corporate and governmental entities, and cardholders alike.

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 and risk, retail and transaction banking, loyalty and couponing, data analytics and conversion rate enhancement in all sales channels (online, mobile, POS). 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). Find out more at www.wirecard.com.

About Afirme:

Afirme Financial Group offers banking and financial services through its branches: Afirme Bank, which has presence in 26 states of Mexico and an important ATM network; Afirme Insurance, which provides personal and patrimonial coverage to persons (car, house, life and life modules) and companies (fleet's life insurance, corporate); Afirme Leasing, which acts as a financing source for persons and companies in the purchase of domestic and foreign fixed assets; Afirme Factoring, which supports our customers with a quick conversion of their accounts receivable, and with short-term financing for working capital; Afirme Storage, with modern facilities and a strategic location, offers the storage, custody and conservation of domestic and foreign merchandise for persons and companies; Afirme Investment Funds, which offers a broad range of products that give access to different financial markets; Afirme Micro-finance, which offers wide-ranging purchase credits; and Afirme Investment Bank. www.afirme.com

Wirecard media contact:

Wirecard AG
Jana Tilz
Tel.: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Afirme media contact:

Afirme Grupo Financiero
Tufic Yutani
Tel.: [phone] Ext. 27328
Email: [e-mail]