WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX), a leading provider of corporate payment solutions, today announced its European office has secured an Electronic Money Institute (EMI) license by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and, as a result, is now a principal member of Mastercard.
The EMI license enables WEX to offer credit and therefore the full product suite, in all 31 countries in the European Economic Area, which according to the latest figures from PhocusWright, is a travel market worth an estimated €273 billion. This new license accelerates WEX’s European expansion plans, which have been a core part of the global strategy of the virtual payments line of business.
“Having our own e-money license and becoming a principal member of Mastercard are key elements of our European strategy,” said Ian Johnson, Commercial Director Europe, at WEX. “Almost all businesses are looking for effective ways to manage supplier payments, and we are pleased to provide our full range of products and credit services across EEA."
He continued, “We’re always looking for ways to deliver more service to our customers and this enables us to do so yet again: being the card issuer ourselves makes us more agile in the marketplace and with the widest product portfolio in this space we are able to make significant savings for our customers. We’re very customer focused and strongly believe that this move will make us an even more valuable partner to them.”