Gift vouchers and cards: everybody’s winning

In France, just like every other year, employees, their families, their employers and merchants massively benefited from gift vouchers (TCOS, titres-cadeau d'œuvre sociale) in 2018. A sectorial study has again revealed the positive perception and the virtuous role of these social initiatives in the French economy. The reasons why.

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A3C is a trade association of gift card and voucher issuers. A few weeks ago, it published a series of particularly revealing illustrations of the leading contribution that gift vouchers and culture vouchers brings to the French economy.

Gift vouchers play an essential role in employee spending

In France, 34% of employees receive multi-brand gift vouchers, such as Edenred’s Kadéos range, that represent a total endowment of €1.2 billion that is distributed according to the familial situation of the beneficiaries. These vouchers, which are popular amongst employees, 65% of whom receive some from their employers, are made on the occasion of births, unions, retirements, the start of a new school year and during the festive season, for example.
An additional €700 million of consumer spending due to their use should be added to the amount here above, i.e. a total of almost €2 billion of additional turnover generated directly by gift vouchers for merchants, and notably specialist outlets and independent local shops.

When the stakeholders are questioned on how gift vouchers contribute to consumption in France, the answers are perfectly eloquent: massive for 48%, and immediate for 70%. This support is deemed certain as the study indicates that gift cards and vouchers are spent at 98%, notably because they are distributed at 75% during the holiday season.

Culture vouchers: purchasing power for knowledge

Culture vouchers, such as Edenred’s Kadéos Culture, are distributed by companies of all sizes as well as work councils to provide access to culture by enabling employees to buy cultural goods and products (books, cinema or theater tickets, etc.) for themselves or their families.

In France, the €142 million of culture vouchers issued by all the market players resulted in 43% of impromptu cultural purchases, and an additional €71 million of spending on culture, thereby injecting a total of more than €200 million into the culture economy, often to the advantage of local businesses (bookshops, cinemas, etc.). This represents a major contribution to the French cultural sector.

About

Edenred is a leading digital platform for services and payments and the everyday companion for people at work, connecting more than 60 million users and more than 2 million partner merchants in 45 countries via close to 1 million corporate clients.

Edenred offers specific-purpose payment solutions for food (such as meal benefits), engagement (such as gift cards and engagement platforms), mobility (such as multi-energy solutions, including EV charging, maintenance, toll and parking) and corporate payments (such as virtual cards).

True to the Group’s purpose, “Enrich connections. For good.”, these solutions enhance users’ well-being and purchasing power. They improve companies’ attractiveness and efficiency,and vitalize the employment market and the local economy. They also foster access to healthier food, more environmentally friendly products and sustainable mobility.

Edenred’s 12,000 employees are committed to making the world of work a connected ecosystem that is safer, more efficient and more responsible every day.

In 2023, thanks to its global technology assets, the Group managed €41 billion in business volume, primarily carried out via mobile applications, online platforms and cards.

Edenred is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange and included in the following indices: CAC 40, CAC 40 ESG, CAC Large 60, Euronext 100, Euronext Tech Leaders, FTSE4Good and MSCI Europe.