Edenred Romania announces the launch of own chatbot, Felicia, based on AI, the first solution of a fringe benefits company in Romania. Felicia will provide instant answers to questions about Edenred products and services and will take over first requests during first quarter of this year. Romania is the first country in Central Europe where Edenred group implements a chatbot, benefiting from the expertise of other subsidiaries, where similar products successfully operate, and thus offers more digital interaction options with its users.

The implementation of conversational technology in Edenred Romania solutions ecosystem is part of the company's accelerated digitization strategy and will contribute to improving the customer experience, whose queries will be successfully resolved much faster. The Felicia chatbot, in the most advanced version of a digital solution dedicated to human conversation, will be available to customers 24/7 from any device with an internet connection, on Edenred Romania's website and Facebook page, including the Benefit platform, as well as in the mobile application.

By accessing the new direction of automation with chatbots and AI, Edenred aims to support more customers and their employees.

Dana Sîntejudean, Regional Director, Edenred Central Europe: “With the launch of our new digital solution, Edenred Romania reaffirms its commitment to serve each customer with the same passion as always, customer experience being our main concern.

Our focus on innovation and technology has led us to offer our users this new conversational technology, aiming to reduce response time in solving the situations they encounter. At the beginning, we expect Felicia to successfully solve over 20% of common support queries, and she will become smarter as she learns from user interactions, providing the majority with a personalized experience.”

Who is Felicia?

Felicia's story began with Edenred's desire to permanently improve the experience of its users and the team's passion to only have satisfied and happy customers with the solutions at their disposal, the name of the chatbot being chosen to highlight the essence of the service it offers.

Felicia, a name of Latin origin, derived from the adjective "felix" ("happy"), is the definition of happiness, being synonymous with thanking those who it cares for, in this case, customers, retailers and users from the Edenred Romania benefits ecosystem.

How Felicia works

Felicia is an innovative chatbot based on artificial intelligence, especially developed for the Romanian market, which recognizes writing in Romanian and can converse with Edenred solutions users.

Edenred users most frequently asked questions are about payment methods and fringe benefits in general. Felicia will answer questions on Edenred Romania's website and Facebook page, including the Benefit platform, as well as in the mobile application. It is a functional chatbot, adapted to understand users' questions and needs even in a text with typos.

Out of the desire to simplify the daily lives of all people, in a period of great challenges for the whole society, we launched Edenred Pay, own mobile payment solution for the Android operating system available for all digitalised fringe benefits. Currently, a large part of Edenred Romania's beneficiaries are Android users, so this mobile payment solution will support them in the process of adopting new online consumption habits.

Edenred digital solutions’ users can already download the MyEdenred Pay app from the Google Play Store for free on devices running Android 6.0 or later and include NFC technology.

Edenred Pay is a simple and fast payment method, which involves the use of a personal device always at hand - a smartphone running Android - and implements the strictest security standards, such as tokenization. Beneficiaries of Edenred Romania prepaid cards can make contactless mobile payments as soon as they have uploaded the fringe benefit cards in the new dedicated application.

Mobile payments via Edenred Pay are accepted in the national network of Edenred partner merchants that implement contactless POS terminals. The new payment solution, Edenred Pay, also brings multiple benefits for partner merchants - cashier payments are streamlined when made with mobile devices and help reduce human contact between employees and customers. Edenred Pay does not require any additional development or investment from merchants.

Especially during this period, for safety and hygiene reasons, Edenred Romania makes every effort to encourage the adoption of digital solutions both by the beneficiaries, but also among customers and partner merchants.

Currently, Edenred Romania offers solutions so that all its users can make mobile payments, as Edenred Pay covers the whole range of benefits products distributed by Edenred: Edenred Ticket Restaurant, Edenred Vacanță, Edenred Cadou and Edenred Cultural.

Globally, Edenred already launched 36 programs in 21 countries, and was the first group of prepaid corporate services to offer mobile payment solutions.
 

Edenred Romania obtains the SafeGuard certification offered by Bureau Veritas, a global leader in testing, evaluation, inspection and certification. The audit conducted at the end of May confirms that all health, hygiene and safety requirements have been met in order to protect employees, clients, beneficiaries and merchants visiting the Edenred headquarters, in order to avoid the risk of COVID-19 disease.

Through "Restart your business with BV" solution, Bureau Veritas certifies that Edenred respects the best international practices and recommendations regarding the preventive measures applicable to the resumption of the companies' activity, bringing an extra confidence to customers and employees.

"The safety of our colleagues and partners is a priority for us, especially during this period. That is why we assure our team, clients and merchants that we are dedicated to our commitment to protect them, by aligning to the highest global standards of safety and hygiene.”, says Dana Sîntejudean, General Manager of Edenred Romania.

What SafeGuard certification entail

For a gradual resumption of our activity in good conditions, at a time when society’s rules impose very strict hygiene measures, the fulfillment of several safety criteria at Edenred's headquarters was evaluated and audited, among which:

• the company's commitment to prevent the risk of COVID-19 contamination;
• correct application of hygiene rules;
• compliance with the requirements of social distancing;
• compliance with personal protection measures within the team and for clients;
• managing interactions with clients and partners; 
• ensuring the continuity of the activity;
• proper supervision and management of suspected or proven cases of contamination, if any.

Edenred Romania, the largest issuing company of cards and benefits vouchers for employees the global leader in payment solutions for the working world, launched on June 26 the Apple Pay service for its digital meal vouchers issued in Romania.

Edenred Romania issues Ticket Restaurant® branded cards and tickets for almost approximately 1,300,000 employees in Romania, and 1 million of them opted for digital meal vouchers on cards.

Meal vouchers digital payments through Apple Pay include enrolling the Edenred Ticket Restaurand® card within the Apple Pay Wallet app. The eligible devices for these payments are iPhone SE, iPhone 6 and updated versions, iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 4, iPad Mini 3 and iPad 2017, as well as all versions of Apple watches.

Ticket Restaurant® users can make mobile payments via Apple Pay by simply approaching their Apple device by the contactless POS terminals available in the Edenred merchants network. For merchants, the new service does not involve any additional developments or investments.

Payments through Apple Pay bring added comfort and safety, because card details are never stored or shared on the phone, tablet or watch used and are never communicated to merchants where payments are made. Apple Pay generates a unique number for each transaction in order to keep the security and confidentiality of the payment.

Edenred Ticket Restaurant® card users made over 31.64 million transactions to partnered merchants in 2018, with 83% more than 2017, when there were registered 17.24 million transactions.

More than 90% of the Edenred electronic meal voucher payments in Romania are contactless, a strong indication that their users are ready for mobile payments. 

"We are very proud that today's 1 million Edenred Ticket Restaurant® users are the first in Romania to make mobile payments with meal vouchers, gaining added comfort and safety. The Edenred employee benefits eco-system is today mostly digital, and the first addition of Apple Pay is a new step forward." says Dana Sîntejudean, General Manager of Edenred Romania & Moldova.

Edenred is the world's leading provider of payment solutions for the working world, connecting 830.000 companies and customer organizations, 47 million user-employees and 1.7 million partner traders from 45 countries. In 2018, the Edenred Group handled 2.5 billion transactions, mainly through mobile apps, online platforms and cards, accounting for more than € 28 billion in business volumes.
 

Edenred Romania has been awarded with the first quality certification in Romania in Customer Satisfaction and customer service, according to the international standard ISO 10002: 2018, from the audit and certification company Bureau Veritas.

ISO 10002: 2018 "Customer Satisfaction" is an international standard that certifies how companies think, organize and conduct business to increase customer satisfaction with the products and services they provide. Certified companies are demonstrating that they focus their business around the goal of generating value for customers, considering customer satisfaction a leading pillar in everything that means planning, design, management, operations, and innovation within the organization. In order to obtain ISO 10002: 2018 certification, companies need to propose innovative and complete solutions to address each customer, user, and business partner requests.

Edenred Romania serves over 35,000 customer companies and more than 1,500,000 users and 65,000 partner merchants for a portfolio of complex products and services: meal vouchers, gift vouchers, cultural vouchers, holiday vouchers, both on card and paper, as well as prepaid cards for business expenses. "It's a complex ecosystem, and customer satisfaction and service quality are one of the key ingredients," says Bianca Schmidt, Product & Marketing Director of Edenred Romania.

In order to obtain ISO 10002: 2018 certification, companies must implement and demonstrate that they consistently apply systems and workflows that ensure customer satisfaction - from how they encourage their customers to communicate their potential dissatisfaction, or complaints, until these grievances are resolved fairly, quickly, efficiently and politely, including procedures whereby customer feedback is integrated into a system to further improve those products and services or to innovate and launch new products.

The ISO 10002: 2018 standard is one of the most complex and strict in the industry, so very few companies have already managed to align their working processes with the new requirements. In Romania, Edenred is the first company to be certified ISO 10002: 2018, over 12300 companies with quality management certifications (ISO 9001: 2008, ISO 9001: 2015).

« Edenred has constantly adapted and reinvented customer service, so today we have teams, systems, technology platforms and workflows tailored to the era and world: our customers can choose any type of interaction they prefer, either direct and personal, or through call center, VIP call center or self-service through Edenred digital platforms. We have an open, efficient and easy-to-use process to handle any customer demand.

The ISO 10002: 2018 certification, obtained through an exhaustive and particularly attentive audit led by Bureau Veritas, is a recognition and guarantee that each customer interaction with Edenred is supported by specialized teams that have the training, motivation and the resources needed to provide excellent services, regardless of the typology of the operation. », adds Bianca Schmidt.

Edenred's new certification in Romania adds to existing certifications - the ISO 9001: 2015 quality management standard, as well as the certification of the partner merchant network.

Edenred is the world's leading provider of prepaid solutions for the working world, linking 830,000 customer companies, 47 million employee users and 1.7 million partner traders across 46 countries.

Long-awaited, since the end of 2018, cultural vouchers and digital gift vouchers have become reality in Romania today: Edenred Romania has been licensed to issue digital gift vouchers and cultural vouchers.

Cultural vouchers are a whole new benefit, which is aimed at bringing culture closer to Romanian employees and their families. Digital gift vouchers are the modernization of an already existing and widely used benefit, being offered on a gift card in a classic, paper-based gift.

Edenred obtained the authorization for the issue of cultural tickets in Romania on 24th May 2019 and will issue such vouchers both on the card and on paper.

Cultural vouchers can be offered to all employees by employers on a monthly basis, in the amount of 150 lei per employee, and occasionally in the amount of 300 lei per event. The cultural vouchers thus offered are exempt from social charges for both companies and employees, subject only to 10% of the employee's income tax. Cultural vouchers are deductible within 5% of the value of personnel wage costs.

With cultural vouchers, employees will be able to pay for cultural goods and services from a wide range of addresses. "Edenred vouchers and cultural cards will open doors for hundreds of thousands of employees to shows, concerts, cinemas, museums, festivals, fairs and exhibitions, themed parks, books, school textbooks, musical albums, conferences, language classes, piano/robotics/astronomy/history lessons ... the palette of choices opens new horizons of knowledge for all. Culture can become a daily habit." says Dana Sîntejudean, CEO of Edenred Romania & Moldova.

Cultural vouchers are a long-awaited and necessary solution, given that culture and leisure activities occupy so far a very limited place in the average spending of Romanians, accounting for only 3.9% of the total monthly expenses. Also spendings in education represent only 0.7% of the monthly expenses of Romanians, according to the latest INSSE reports, for the fourth quarter of 2018.

"Vouchers and cultural cards will eliminate some of the financial barriers that limit employees' access to cultural activities. At the same time, cultural vouchers will help companies build a healthy work environment, support the professional and personal development of employees, and invest in employees' well-being. Investing in culture is the most profitable choice for social and economic progress." adds Dana Sîntejudean.

Edenred has already developed a network of partners where you can use cultural cards and vouchers at a national level, starting partnerships to cover all types of cultural products and services.

Edenred partners include Cărtureşti, Bilete.ro, Libris, Librarium, as well as ticketing platforms such as www.eventbook.ro, www.myticket.ro, www.bilete.ro or www.entertix.ro, with hundreds shows, concerts and events in the offer, from Untold or Electric Castle to Summer Magic or Gaşca Zurli.

When it comes to digital gift vouchers, they can be offered to employees and their minor children in the amount of 150 lei per beneficiary, for Easter, Christmas, 1st of June and March 8th. Gift vouchers granted to employees are exempt from social contributions and income tax and are deductible up to 5% of the salary costs. They can also be used in marketing, promotion, or protocol programs.

Edenred digital gift vouchers can be used in over 4,000 merchant parteners across the country, covering both independent and large retail chains, hypermarkets, fashion, electro and IT, jewelery, cosmetics, and more.

"Digital gift vouchers are a big step forward in employee motivation and reward programs. Edenred issues gift vouchers for thousands of companies and hundreds of thousands of their employees for 15 years, and the job market is ready for digital solutions. Gift vouchers are on the 4th place in the top of the extrasalary benefits provided by companies in Romania, so their digitization is very good news. Romania's new work, consumption and living habits required a digital solution to make their lives easier, and now we have this solution. Digitization allows us to connect companies more quickly with employees and traders, into a modern ecosystem that everyone wins." says Dana Sîntejudean.

Edenred is the world's leading provider of payment solutions for the world of work, connecting 830,000 customer companies, 47 million employee users and 1.7 million partner traders from 45 countries.

In Romania, Edenred serves more than 35,000 customer companies and over 1,500,000 users for meal cards and vouchers, gift vouchers, holiday vouchers, social vouchers, and business prepaid cards.

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Edenred, the global leader in payment solutions for the working world, connects 830,000 corporate clients, 47 million employee users and 1.7 million partner merchants across 45 countries. Thanks to its global technology platform, the Group managed 2.5 billion transactions in 2018, primarily carried out via mobile applications, online platforms and cards, and representing more than €28 billion in business volume.

Edenred’s 8,500 staff are driven by a commitment to improving employees’ quality of life, increasing companies’ efficiency and boosting merchants’ revenues. They achieve this through three business lines:

• Employee Benefits (food, meals, well-being, leisure, culture and human services)
• Fleet & Mobility Solutions (fuel, tolls, maintenance and business travel)
• Complementary Solutions, including Corporate Payment Services (virtual payment cards, identified wire transfers and supplier payments), Incentives & Rewards (gift cards and platforms, and incentive programs), and Public Social Programs.

Edenred is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange and included in the following indices: CAC Next 20, FTSE4Good, DJSI Europe and MSCI Europe.

Ticket Cadou and Compliments Cards can be used by companies to offer Easter gifts to clients and business partners (distributors, agents and representatives, suppliers and any other kind of partner), and the offered amounts are deductible expenses.

They can both be used to purchase any type of products or services: clothing, footwear, cosmetics, jewelry, personal care services or even food products, in small stores or the large commercial chains.

Gift cards can be spent in more than 55 000 stores all over the country, and Compliments cards, which work on the Mastercard platform, can be used in more than 3000 stores.

In Romania, more than 30 000 companies award their employees various types of vouchers and cards issued by Edenred: Ticket Restaurant® meal vouchers, Ticket Cadou® gift vouchers, Compliments® gift cards, Ticket Vacanţa® holiday vouchers etc.

Beginning with July 1st 2013, companies can award their employees holiday vouchers that are deductible and exempted from the taxes and contributions paid by the companies, up to a value of 4800 lei per year, for each employee.

This is due to the increase of the minimum gross salary, for the second time this year, up to 800 lei.

Holiday vouchers are deductible and exempted from taxes and contributions paid by the companies within the limit of 6 national minimum gross wages for each employee, according to the Emergency Ordinance no.8/2009.

Holiday vouchers can be awarded by any company, regardless of its business sector or the structure of the share capital, provided that they have recorded profit or revenue, as applicable, in the previous financial year.

Employees who receive holiday vouchers can purchase full tourist packages from the affiliate tourism units: tourism agencies, hotels, guesthouses, balneary treatment resorts and recreational facilities.

Find out more details on Ticket Vacanţa

We have good news: we have launched the new My Edenred application with a new design, an improved experience, new features and we are glad to present it to you.

As important updates in the application, you will find the section of displaying PIN code and its reminder, the order history, the possibility of (temporarily or permanently) locking your card (as well as unlocking it whenever you wish), you can find our your balance in real time, see the map of partner retailers, which is frequently updated.

In addition, the new My Edenred application now has a bazaar section, a category dedicated to the most attractive special offers, where you can see, by fields of interest (restaurants, food, fashion and beauty, hobby, gifts, etc.), promotions that you can enjoy as Edenred client.

The dedicated program, “Come to lunch at 1”, created especially for you in collaboration with a nutrition specialist, will offer you a diversified and healthy menu every day, as well as the joy of a nice meal with your co-workers.

The category of “Virtual cards” will help you store all your cards (pharmacies, supermarkets, etc.), having them handy every time, without needing to fill out your wallet anymore.

All you need to do to enjoy the improved application is to install My Edenred from Google Play or App Store and you can use the same authentication data as on the online platform https://www.ticketonthego.ro, no need to create a new account.

Download the new application and it’s guaranteed that you will get a discount code, in amount of 100 lei, for the tourist packages from Eximtur, if you subscribe to Edenred’s news and special offers! 

Discover the new My Edenred - user friendly application! 

Edenred Romania, the biggest issuer of prepaid vouchers and cards for companies and employees, was designated, for the third year in a row, one of the best employers in Romania, according to the Best Employers study, performed by Aon Romania. The generous benefits, the autonomy and the reliability in the organization are among the criteria that make the difference. Edenred provides its employees very generous packages of fixed benefits, which are 80% over the market average in Romania. Among them, we count meal cards, gift cards both for employees and for their children, and holiday vouchers. In addition, employees have access to other 10 alternative packages of flexible benefits, which cover each and every one’s needs and preferences, in fields such as health, culture, or sports. Irrespective of the tangible benefits, employees participate in training and coaching programs, and sports events, charitable or social events organized by the company. They are encouraged to follow their passions or to support social causes that they believe in. The sports championship organized by Edenred has already become a traditional event for employees and clients. Last but not least, Edenred is the promoter of a balanced lifestyle at work, through simple gestures integrated in the daily life, such as the daily lunch break. Within the Best Employers study performed by Aon Romania, Edenred has recorded a high degree of satisfaction and involvement of the employees and a very high response rate in the survey, 99% of the employees, as well as the highest engagement score, during the three years of participation, 82%. 

“Motivated and involved employees are the dream of any employer, but this is not easy to achieve. During the last 3 years, we measured the employees’ degree of involvement and they were requested to tell, themselves, what makes the difference, from their point of view, and this helped us make a customized and authentic engagement plan”, states Dana Sîntejudean, General Manager of Edenred Romania & Moldova. The Best Employer study was performed in the period between 4-8 September 2017, through an anonymous survey, to which more than 25.0000 employees of the 41 participating companies have responded. The results were presented to the public during the Aon Best Employer Gala, on March 22nd 2018. Edenred Group operates in 45 countries and has almost 8 000 employees. In Romania, the company counts 145 employees and it is the promoter of quality professional life principles, as essential element for the success of any employer.