Wirecard CEO resigns after €1.9 billion cash goes missing
The Germany-based payments company, Wirecard has been rocked by a scandal over missing cash which prompted the resignation of its CEO Markus Braun and the withdrawal of its audited accounts. The company said it is now in emergency talks with lender banks and is considering sale or restructuring of its businesses.
According to a statement by Wirecard’s management board on 22 June: “There is a prevailing likelihood that the bank trust account balances in the amount of 1.9 billion EUR do not exist. The company previously assumed that these trust accounts have been established for the benefit of the company in connection with the so called Third Party Acquiring business and has reported them as an asset in its financial accounts.”
The news came shortly after Wirecard announced that it had collaborated with Bulgarian fintech Payhawk to launch a new Visa corporate card to provide businesses with a solution to manage corporate expenses. According to the press release, Payhawk will benefit from Wirecard’s tailor-made corporate solutions which include end-to-end card infrastructure as well as its expertise in the payment industry.
“Together with Wirecard and Visa, we are happy to provide an efficient and compliant solution to manage company spend end-to-end and enforce spend policies and budgets directly on cards,” said Hristo Borisov, Co-founder and CEO of Payhawk.
Under this collaboration between Wirecard, Visa and Payhawk, Bulgarian start-ups will be able to target new groups in Europe with a focus on SMEs who currently lack digital solutions for their expense management. Wirecard’s solution includes e-money license, issuing license, fraud and risk management and card management platform. Each card would be available in virtual and physical form. With this managers can monitor in real-time and approve workflow. Payhawk business cards are available in 13 countries.