Vodafone SmartPass is Starting, Supported by Wirecard

MUNICH and ASCHEIM, Germany, November 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Vodafone Group is starting its mobile payment service Vodafone SmartPass in Spain, being supported by Wirecard Group for the entire payment process. The official launch is planned for the end of November. Germany, the UK and The Netherlands as well as other countries to follow step-by-step.

Dr. Christian Wirtz, Vodafone Group Director mCommerce commented: "After months of intensive preparations we are looking forward to going live in Spain. We are convinced that contactless payments using smartphones will gain pace from 2014, and that our customers will value, in particular, the added value that our mobile services offer."

Wirecard is supporting Vodafone as a technical service provider when implementing the mobile payment application for various mobile phone types. Furthermore Wirecard is responsible for the creation, implementation and operations of all technical processes. This includes the issuing and payment processing of physical and digital Visa cards. Cards are issued by Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd., a Wirecard group company.

"The Vodafone Group is launching a mCommerce strategy with its Vodafone SmartPass which will re-define payment behavior to date. We are providing Vodafone with an end-to-end ecosystem - starting with registration, and spanning technical processing, through to financial services," added Dr. Markus Braun, Wirecard's CEO.

Vodafone SmartPass customers with an NFC-enabled mobile phone can start straight away and use their Vodafone NFC-SIM card to make contactless payments at the point of sale (POS) from their Vodafone SmartPass credit balance. Wirecard will provide NFC tags for mobile phone models which are not NFC-enabled. These tags are attached to the phone. In addition, each Vodafone SmartPass user receives a supplementary physical Visa card for use at the POS. Users also benefit from useful functions such as the opportunity to send money to other registered Vodafone SmartPass users, to load credit balances directly in the App, a detailed transaction overview, and automated notices of flows of money. Customers can use a multi-lingual help desk, provided by Wirecard's call center infrastructure.

About Vodafone:

Vodafone is one of the world's largest mobile communications companies by revenue with approximately 411 million customers in its controlled and jointly controlled markets as of 30 September 2013. Vodafone has equity interests in telecommunications operations in nearly 30 countries and around 50 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit: http://www.vodafone.com.

About Wirecard:

Wirecard AG is one of the world's leading independent providers of outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payment transactions. The Wirecard Group has been supporting companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. A global multi-channel platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods, supplemented by fraud prevention solutions. When it comes to issuing their own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, Wirecard provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licenses for card and account products.

Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI).

http://www.wirecard.com |  http://www.wirecardbank.com |  http://www.mywirecard.com

Wirecard Media Contact:

Wirecard AG
Maren Brandt
Einsteinring 35
D-85609 Aschheim / Munich
Germany
Ph.:  +49(0)89-4424-1425
Fax:  +49(0)89-4424-2425
e-mail: maren.brandt@wirecard.com

Vodafone Group Media Contact:

Tel.:  +44(0)1635-664444