Edenred Digs into Paperless Meal Voucher Opportunity in France (Apr. 30, 2014)
A decree by the French government approving electronic corporate meal vouchers could open up a major opportunity for corporate prepaid card providers that can help employers move from paper to plastic. First out of the gate on the heels of the March 7 rule change is Edenred, which has released the Ticket Restaurant card, a reloadable prepaid card accepted at restaurants in the company’s existing meal voucher network. Released in early April, the chip-and-PIN card can be reloaded by an employer each month and can be equipped with optional NFC functionality.
For employers, the Ticket Restaurant card offers a more efficient and simpler management of meal voucher benefits programs, compared to paper voucher, according to Edenred. Transactions are limited to a certain dollar amount and can be restricted to work days to ensure legitimate use. Employees, meanwhile, enjoy the benefits of using a card over paper, and have access to online account management and a mobile app that includes a geolocation-based restaurant finder. Finally, restaurants benefit from faster reimbursement and enhanced visibility, without having to change their existing payment terminals.
Edenred currently has 1.3 million Ticket Restaurant beneficiaries across 55,000 client companies in France, along with 180,000 affiliated restaurants. The company said it is “fully committed to making the shift to digital,” and will market the card throughout its corporate and restaurant network. Worldwide, 58 percent of Edenred’s benefits issue volume is paperless. The transition to digital meal vouchers in France should help the company reach its goal of upping paperless issuance to 75 percent by 2016.
See related articles:
