Edenred

Foundation and Accor integration (1962–2009)

Jacques Borel created a meal voucher in France called Ticket Restaurant in 1962. He was inspired by the original Luncheon Voucher, a concept launched in the United Kingdom in 1954 and the Luncheon Vouchers Company founded by John Hack in 1955. A French government decree, passed in 1967, officially recognized the meal voucher as an employee benefit. The concept was launched outside France starting in 1976. Ticket Restaurant and its local variant Ticket Alimentación began spreading to other countries in Europe and Latin America, including Brazil and Mexico.

The Ticket Restaurant entity, which had been a subsidiary of Accor since 1983, became Accor Services in 1998. Accor had also acquired Luncheon Vouchers one year prior. Thus the two entities were merged under the new name of Accor Services.

In September 2007, Accor Services acquired a 98.3% stake UK pioneer and market leader in prepaid cards, PrePay Technologies Ltd, for €55M.

Ticket Restaurant was introduced to Türkiye in 1992, marking Accor Services' entry into the Turkish employee benefits market. The operation initially launched under the "Ticket Restaurant" brand and later continued as Accor Services Türkiye following the group's global restructuring in 1998.

Formation of Edenred (2010–present)

Following the split of Accor's hotel and prepaid services businesses, Accor Services became Edenred in June 2010. The group was listed on NYSE Euronext Paris on July 2, 2010. Jacques Stern was appointed chairman and chief executive officer.

Edenred also launched the Ticket Plus Card in Germany (staple goods: food, fuel, meals), Ticket Cultura in Brazil (cultural goods and services), and Fides Cloud Loyalty Software in India, managed by its subsidiary Accentiv India Pvt. Ltd.

In 2014, Edenred acquired C3, a leader in the employee payroll cards market in the United Arab Emirates. The Group also acquired 34% of UTA, Europe’s second largest fuel card issuer, before increasing its stake to 51% in January 2017 to 66% in 2018 and 100% in 2020.

Bertrand Dumazy became chairman and chief executive officer of Edenred on October 26, 2015.

Edenred’s operations are organised around three business lines. In employee benefits, the group issues meal and food benefits under brands such as Ticket Restaurant/Ticket Alimentación and also offers gift and incentive solutions as well as employee engagement platforms, a segment it expanded by acquiring Reward Gateway in 2023. In mobility solutions, Edenred provides fleet and fuel cards and related services in Europe through UTA Edenred, following its purchase of a stake in Union Tank Eckstein (UTA) in 2014. In corporate payments, Edenred develops virtual cards, accounts‑payable automation and other B2B payment services, strengthened by its 2018 acquisition of U.S. based Corporate Spending Innovations (CSI).

Key product families include Ticket Restaurant meal benefits in markets such as France and Latin America, which can be used in restaurants and approved food retailers subject to national rules (for example, in France a daily spending ceiling and defined acceptance categories apply). In Europe, UTA Edenred issues fuel cards accepted across multi‑brand networks and has added services for road payments and, more recently, electric‑vehicle charging via its UTA eCharge offer. In the United Kingdom and other European markets, Reward Gateway provides employee engagement tools including benefits portals and recognition programmes.