One of Wirecard’s most senior executive directors in Australia and New Zealand has resigned from the troubled German-owned payments group.
Kalash Mohan, known to Wirecard’s Australian employees as “Karl”, told staff on Tuesday that he was leaving the organisation.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mohan was the general manager of Wirecard’s Australian and New Zealand operations.
ASIC records also show that since January this year he was a director of Wirecard’s Australian card acquiring and issuing business, Wirecard Australia A&I Pty Ltd.
As a member of the subsidiary’s board, Mohan helped oversee the rollout of Wirecard Australia’s prepaid Visa card program in partnership with STA Travel.
Mohan’s departure means the subsidiary has only two directors, including the executive head of Wirecard’s Asian operations, Jeffry Ho.
Mohan was not a director of Wirecard’s other Australian arm, Wirecard Australia Pty Ltd.
According to a company source, Mohan’s departure came as a surprise to many of Wirecard’s 45 Australian employees.
Mohan told staff last Thursday that there was a proposal to separate the Australian arms from the Wirecard group, with a view to establishing the businesses as a stand-alone operation.
The company source told Banking Day that following Mohan’s departure staff were worried about the security of their employment and asking whether the Wirecard businesses would be able to pay salaries.
Wirecard’s Australian and New Zealand arms have continued to trade since the group holding company – Wirecard AG – filed for insolvency in a German court last week.
The local arms remain active because their immediate parent companies were not named in the insolvency application.
Wirecard’s German directors said last week they were considering whether the insolvency application should be extended to include the group’s international subsidiaries.
A string of Australian banks and credit unions rely on Wirecard’s Cadencie platform to manage parts of their debit and credit card operations. Cadencie’s list of clients include Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, ME Bank and Cuscal.
The crisis presents operational risks for these banks if Wirecard’s Australian operation is no longer able to service the licensed software technology.
A spokesman for Bendigo and Adelaide Bank said the company had the internal capability to maintain the card management platform without external support.
“All Wirecard products are run on internal systems, managed by internal Bendigo and Adelaide Bank teams,” the spokesman said.
“We have measures in place to ensure ongoing operation of those systems.”