From: RegTech Analyst
While the Wirecard scandal truly came to light this summer, it seems as if Mastercard and Visa have been concerned for many years about the now insolvent FinTech giant.
A new report by the Wall Street Journal suggests Visa and Mastercard each fined Wirecard in excess of $10m for suspicious transactions over a decade ago. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report also alleged that executives at the two payment companies have been been concerned about issues with Wirecard since at least 2015.
They were worried about issues such as miscoded gambling transactions, high numbers of stolen card purchases and reversed transactions which led to substantial fines, sources told the newspaper.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Visa even asked Wirecard to stop doing transactions with high-risk businesses such as pornography, gambling and unregulated healthcare products.
Visa and Wirecard declined to comment, according to the report. Mastercard said it monitors its network for violations of law and non-compliance with its rules.
The report is only the latest in a string of stories suggesting that things have not been right in the house of Wirecard for quite some time.
The Financial Times have been the leading force behind many of the reports about wrongdoings within Wirecard, having reported about suspected misconduct since 2018.
The case came to a boil in June when it was revealed that $2.1bn of the company’s finances were missing.
Since then, the company has filed for insolvency, several of its leadership members have been arrested or are wanted by the authorities on suspicion of having taken part of a massive fraud, and Wirecard is at the centre of a number of lawsuits.
The scandal has also sparked several calls for regulators to crack down harder on the FinTech industry.
Copyright © 2020 FinTech Global
