Edenred, the biggest meal voucher issuer both internationally and on the local market, announces the launch of the first meal card in Romania, with the Ticket Restaurant® brand. Meal cards become reality in Romania after the approval by Government Order of the Bylaws of Law 291/2013 for the modification of Law 142/1998, regarding the granting of meal vouchers. This creates the legal basis for the issuing of meal vouchers both on paper, as well as digital support.

1. Press Release
January 2015
Edenred announces the launch of the first meal card in Romania
The Ticket Restaurant
®
meal card uses state of the art payment technology which
allows “contactless” payments, has the same fiscal framework as the paper meal
vouchers and will be issued alongside paper meal vouchers.
Edenred, the biggest meal voucher issuer both internationally and on the local market, announces the
launch of the first meal card in Romania, with the Ticket Restaurant
®
brand.
Meal cards become reality in Romania after the approval by Government Order of the Bylaws of Law 291/2013
for the modification of Law 142/1998, regarding the granting of meal vouchers. This creates the legal basis for
the issuing of meal vouchers both on paper, as well as digital support.
SIMPLIFICATION AND FLEXIBILITY FOR CLIENTS
The Ticket Restaurant meal cards issued by Edenred will circulate alongside paper meal vouchers, and
companies will have the possibility to order both types of benefit, depeding on the preferences and needs of their
employees. Orders for meal vouchers, both on paper and on card, can be easily placed through the Edenred
Online web interface.
The meal cards and paper meal vouchers have identical fiscal regulations, the amount granted to employees on
meal cards being 9.35 lei for each working day, which means up to 215 lei per month, deductible and tax free for
employees as well as employers. Ticket Restaurant® meal cards will offer the possibility to be recharged each
month with the amounts given by client-companies to their employees, thus simplifying the distribution of this
benefit.
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2. “Although they function like a regular payment card, meal cards are not banking cards and have certain
restrictions: they do not allow cash withdrawals, and the amounts on meal cards will be used only for paying for
meals or purchasing food products, in a specific network of affiliated shops and restaurants. Since they do not
have an associated bank account, meal cards have the additional benefit of not imposing to employees any
administration fees or other costs associated with banking cards. “ declared Iulian Alexe, Marketing & Business
Development Director, Edenred Romania.
SECURITY AND ADDITIONAL SERVICES FOR BENEFICIAIRIES
The Ticket Restaurant meal card is developed under the MasterCard brand and is a chip card. Transactions
are approved by beneficiaries by PIN code. The card uses Contactless technology which allows quick payments
(without the need for PIN code for payments under 100 lei) in commercial outlets showing the PayPass logo,
being a modern and safe alternative to paper meal vouchers. The processing infrastracture and the innovative
technology for the Ticket Restaurant
®
card are provided by PrePay Technologies Ltd. (a member of Edenred
SA), which is an alliance between Edenred and MasterCard.
Compared to paper meal vouchers, the Ticket Restaurant® meal cards will allow payments of a lesser
value than that of an individual voucher of 9.35 lei. Employees who will receive Ticket Restaurant® meal
cards will be able to check their account balance and transaction history, both online and by phone, 24h/24h.
Meal cards eliminate the risks of loss or deterioration which may exist for paper vouchers, since in such cases
the cards can be blocked and then replaced, and beneficiaries will be able to access their funds.
EASIER REIMBURSEMENT FOR AFFILIATES
For the affiliated restaurant and food outlets, accepting meal cards will bring time savings and fast
reimbursement of the corresponding amounts. In order to accept payment by meal card, the food merchants
need to sign an affiliation contract and to enroll their existing POS’s in the Ticket Restaurant® card network.
AN INNOVATION MADE BY EDENRED
Edenred plans to offer the option for an electronic meal voucher to all of their 800,000 beneficiaries as part of the
dual offer (paper & card), but the migration to cards is estimated to be gradual and correlated with the POS
penetration development.
“Leveraging our expertise in digital solutions worldwide and also in Romania, where we launched in 2010 the
first B2B prepaid gift card, Edenred will offer to companies in Romania a modern alternative to the classic meal
vouchers on paper, with significant advantages for all the participants in the meal vouchers system: employees
will gain more flexibility, while companies and retailers will be able to streamline their operational and
administrative processes.
Ticket Restaurant® cards will be a welcomed alternative for companies and employees and we are proud to be
the first to bring meal vouchers into the digital era. Meal cards, which will be issued alongside paper meal
vouchers, will play an important part in redefining the payments habits of employees in Romania. Our current
priority is to develop a wide network of acceptance for meal cards, so that we can ensure fair access to this
social benefit for all employees in Romania, wherever they may work or live”, declares Pierre Gagnoud, General
Manager of Edenred Romania.
« Although the local history of cards is about to celebrate two decades, the ongoing technology evolution and the
dynamic context of the market allow us to support new premieres in Romania, with our partners”, said Cosmin
Vladimirescu, General Manager Romania & Moldova, at MasterCard. « Besides making things easier for
companies and merchants, the meal card Ticket Restaurant
®
has many important benefits for cardholders: it
brings consumers not only the comfort of additional Chip & PIN security, but also payments which are 3 times
faster, thanks to the latest available technology, MasterCard
®
PayPass™. Moreover, the card offers more
flexibility – cardholders can buy things of the exact amount they want, without worrying that they cannot get any
change back or that they might lose the meal tickets.”
The Edenred group already issues meal cards in 18 countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Besides
meal cards, Edenred also issues other types of pre-paid benefit cards in 37 countries and is the only meal
voucher issuer in Romania which offers already a card solution in Romania. Since as early as 2010, the
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3. company issues Compliments®, the first B2B gift card in Romania, as a digital alternative to the Ticket Cadou®
paper gift vouchers. The issuing of Ticket Restaurant® meal cards will begin once the authorization procedures
are finalized by the Ministry for Public Finances.
At present, 58% of Edenred’s worldwide issued volume in the area of prepaid benefits is digital. The transition to
the meal card in Romania is in line with the Group’s strategy, which aims to increase the proportion of digital
solutions to more than 75% of issue volume by 2016.
Meal vouchers are the most popular employee benefit in Romania, approximately 2 million of the 4.5 million
employees in Romania receiving meal vouchers from their employers.
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