The German payments company that collapsed in 2020 after €1.9 billion went missing was Wirecard.
Founded in 1999 near Munich, Wirecard processed electronic payments and issued payment cards. It became a celebrated German fintech success story, joining the DAX stock index in 2018 and presenting itself as a fast-growing rival to established financial-services companies.
Its reputation unraveled after years of allegations about accounting irregularities, particularly in its Asia-Pacific operations. Investigations by the Financial Times and a special audit by KPMG intensified scrutiny. In June 2020, auditor Ernst & Young could not verify €1.9 billion supposedly held in trustee accounts. Banks in the Philippines said the money had never been there, and Wirecard admitted the amount probably did not exist.
Chief executive Markus Braun resigned and was arrested, while chief operating officer Jan Marsalek disappeared and became an international fugitive. Wirecard filed for insolvency on June 25, 2020. The scandal exposed weaknesses in auditing and German financial regulation, not merely a failed payments product. Stripe, Square, and PayPal are payment companies, but none is the answer to this German collapse.