SAO PAULO, April 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- WEX, a company with more than 30 years' experience in the global market of corporate payment solutions, and Raízen, licensee of the Shell brand in Brazil, have established a partnership for gas stations to begin accepting the WEX Frete card as an electronic payment method for independent truckers. According to market estimates, the segment amounts to BRL 100 billion/year in revenues in Brazil.
Through this partnership, WEX believes it will be able to cause a reduction in direct costs for highway cargo transport throughout the country's entire logistics chain. In turn, Raízen expects a potential increase in fuel sales at Shell stations, precisely due to the benefits offered by the WEX solution to independent drivers who currently represent more than 50% of the volume consumed at gas stations.
WEX possesses one of the most advanced payment platforms, standing out for promoting the financial inclusion of workers who do not have full access to the full range of banking services offered by financial institutions. Through this partnership, the 60,000+ truckers that already utilize the WEX Frete card can now also be served at newly licensed Shell gas stations, where they can benefit from all the advantages of Shell's loyalty platform Clube Irmão Caminhoneiro Shell, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
The partnership was announced during Raízen's Annual Sales Convention, which took place on April 10-13 with more than 2,000 Shell retailers at Praia do Forte, Bahia, Brazil.
For the CEO of WEX in Latin America, José Roberto Kracochansky, Brazil is one of the biggest markets with potential for migrating traditional payment methods to electronic and, in the case of freight payments, this migration is still at a very incipient stage. "Since becoming regulated, electronic freight payment has seen a very slow adoption rate, since it hadn't yet found a balance in the commercial relationship between truckers, transporters and gas stations. We believe that through this partnership, we will precisely achieve this objective."
For Andreas Lips, Highways and Diesel Manager at Raízen, the partnership provides a strong competitive advantage, as well as an excellent opportunity for truckers to improve the payment security and their routine at gas stations. "With this new product, we hope to provide greater profitability to our Shell retailers, greater control over sales and more volume. The objective is also to expedite, reduce costs and offer greater safety to truckers when refueling," said Andreas.
Market Diagnostic
Market estimates indicate that a large part of freight transporters and loaders do not yet use electronic payment methods, instead, they are still relying on the traditional freight letters or paper checks, which is against current regulations established by the National Ground Transportation Agency (ANTT).
Furthermore, we can see growing numbers in the use of cards as payment methods for these services in other more mature markets, such as the United States, where approximately 90% of the operation is conducted in this way. This generates much more effective and practical control over the management of financial processes in these companies.
About WEX
WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX) is a leading provider of corporate payment solutions. From its roots in fleet card payments beginning in 1983, WEX has expanded the scope of its business into a multi-channel provider of corporate payment solutions representing 11.3 million vehicles and offering exceptional payment security and control across a wide spectrum of business sectors. WEX serves a global set of customers and partners through its operations around the world, with offices in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, and Singapore.
WEX is expanding strongly in the segments in which it does business, possessing a global footprint and dictating the most innovative trends in the payment methods market for servicing the public in general. WEX Group shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: WEX) since 2005. For more information, visit: www.wex.com.br.
About Raízen
Raízen, a Shell licensee in Brazil since 2011, is one of the most competitive energy companies in the world and one of the biggest in terms of revenue in Brazil, and is present in all stages of the process: sugarcane cultivation, sugar, ethanol and energy production, commercialization, internal and export logistics, fuel distribution and retail. These are activities that employ more than 30,000 people and involve more than 6,000 Shell fuel stations, 950 Shell Select convenience stores, 68 airport refueling bases and 68 fuel distribution terminals, 26 production units, and an annual production of roughly 2 billion liters of ethanol, 4 million tons of sugar and an energy-generation capacity of 940 MW from sugarcane bagasse.
Press information:
Imagem Corporativa
Daniel Oliveira
P. +55 (11) 3526-4536
daniel.oliveira@imagemcorporativa.com.br
Thaís Ribeiro
P. +55 (11) 3526-4539
thais.ribeiro@imagemcorporativa.com.br
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SOURCE WEX Inc.
