Dunedin based discount card "Wicard" goes global

For immediate Release - Thursday 19 March 2009

Dunedin based discount card "Wicard" goes global

An innovative and unique discount card recently developed by Dunedin based business Wicard has been licensed in Germany to Wicard Deutschland Vertriebs GmbH. The terms of the licence guarantee returns of around $2 Million to Wicard in the next financial year, starting April 2009 and rapid growth thereafter.

The discount card developed by Wicard is the brainchild of Christian Kasper (former founder and CEO of Vouchermate Ltd).

Wicard has been developed using software technology by Dunedin based business Massive Media.

It is expected that as the business model develops it will create small number of jobs in Dunedin in website development and customer service positions.

The business is based on a licensing model whereby license fees and royalties will be returned back to the Dunedin based business, with more established companies providing the sales force to generate the rapid growth. The license deal requires the German partner to have 181 sales people selling the product by Christmas.

Wicard Germany is a wholly owned subsidiary of a well established sales and distribution company in Germany, already servicing more than 6,000 major business clients including hospitals and schools all across Germany.

Thorsten Osthoff, Spokesperson for Wicard Deutschland Vertriebs GmbH says "In economic times like this, looking after your expenses and saving money is top priority. The "feel-good" factor though comes from the fact that each card financially supports a charity of choice and that charities can use the card as a fundraiser to support their projects"

"Working with a company in New Zealand is not really a challenge anymore these days. In fact we found working with Wicard New Zealand a lot easier and more efficient than with most of our partners in Germany. The completeness and the innovation of the product and the people behind it have really convinced us."

The details of the business model are a closely guarded secret until the launch in Germany, but Wicard has revealed that the business has a significant charitable donation component, and the model is quickly scalable.

Christian Kasper, founder of Wicard says, "The partnership with Wicard Germany provides an opportunity to target an overseas market with a discount card that delivers real benefits in the current economic climate. The business model is such that it is a licensed model and realistically could work anywhere. It delivers a value proposition for both consumers and retailers from an advertising perspective".

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