Wirecard Partners With Value Retail, Creator and Operator of Luxury Outlet Shopping Destinations

MUNICH, October 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

• Wirecard brings China's leading mobile payment method Alipay to the luxury shopping destinations by Value Retail 
• Chinese tourists will soon use Alipay in the nine luxury shopping Villages across Europe   

Wirecard, the leading specialist for digital financial technologies, launches Alipay for Value Retail - creator and operator of the Collection of Villages in Europe and China, award-winning luxury outlet shopping destinations. The Villages are located close to the main gateway cities of Europe and China: London, Dublin, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Brussels, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid, Suzhou and Shanghai. After the successful launch of Alipay payments at the Visitor Centre in Bicester Village near London, Value Retail is looking to extend the Alipay service across the nine Villages in Europe via Wirecard's Scan Alipay app.

Nearly 8.5 million Chinese tourists travel to Europe every year, spending averagely 3000 Euros for shopping. Luxury goods such as designer handbags, shoes and apparel are the most in-demand products by Chinese tourists. With 520 million active users and more than 100 million transactions per day, Alipay is the world's largest mobile payment network. Experience of other Wirecard customers has shown that offering Alipay as a new payment method via the ready-to-use Scan Alipay app has led to a 40% increase in transactions made by Chinese tourists after one quarter. Each transaction totals EUR 270 on average.

Pam Bingley, Chief Information Officer at Value Retail, says: "Hospitality is at the heart of everything we do, creating memorable experiences for our guests, who come from all corners of the world. Alipay will give our guests from China greater choice, creating more convenient ways of paying."

Christian Reindl, Executive Vice President Sales Consumer Goods at Wirecard, comments: "We are delighted to announce our new partnership with Value Retail and look forward to expanding upon our collaboration by integrating Alipay into more of the Collection of Villages."

The Wirecard Scan Alipay app offers retailers the opportunity to benefit from the advantages of Alipay payment acceptance immediately. A customer making a cashless payment with their Alipay app simply needs to show the retailer the barcode on their smartphone display. The retailer then just enters the amount payable into the Scan Alipay app using a mobile device and scans the QR code on the customer's smartphone. Wirecard takes over payment acceptance and the transaction processing.

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

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.

Value Retail media contact:
Value Retail PLC
Kirstin Scott
E-Mail: KiScott@ValueRetail.com

About Value Retail:  

Value Retail is the only company to specialise exclusively in the creation and operation of luxury outlet shopping destinations, the Collection of Villages in Europe and China. Through the Collection, Value Retail serves the world's leading brands in key tourism markets, working with international travel trade operators to attract customers from all over the world. It creates value out of opportunities for both leading global luxury brands and luxury travelling consumers. Value Retail has consistently delivered double-digit growth in gross sales every year since the opening of Bicester Village in 1995, while the Villages produce among the highest sales densities for shopping (full price and outlet) in the world. To find out more, visit ValueRetail.com.