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RETAIL BY KEITHREID Wright Express Corporation changes name to WEX Inc. FROM WRIGHT TO WEX card provider in 1983, through a successful initial public offering in 2005, WEX Inc. has grown expo- nentially to become an international company with 2011 revenues of approximately $553 million. The new name reflects the company's transfor- mation and growth strategies, which are focused on physical, digital and virtual corporate card payment solutions for businesses internationally. NPN interviewed Michael E. Dubyak, chairman, president and CEO of WEX Inc. on the specifics of the brand adjustments. W Michael E. Dubyak NPN: Changing the name of a well-established brand is no small deal. What prompted the move? Dubyak: Over the last two to three years, we have also found ourselves moving more aggressively into inter- national markets and other corporate payment areas where we can provide solutions with virtual cards and even some areas of payroll and prepaid cards as well. So when you start to do that, you have to look at your brand and see if the brand is representing who we are and who we are becoming. We decided we were going to try to reposition the brand, but we did not know up front that we were going to change the name. We thought Wright Express was very strong among oil com- panies, leasing companies and fleets, but how did it resonate across the globe? What we found out—and not just across the globe, but within the Americas—is that people who don't know us and hear the name Wright Express tend to initially think of us as a freight company, which is some- thing other than what we are. 12 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 RIGHT EXPRESS CORPORATION, based in South Portland, Maine, announced its name change to WEX Inc. on Oct. 25, 2012. Since its beginnings as a fleet NPN: The name change itself is fairly familiar. I have heard a number of people refer to your com- pany as WEX in recent years. Dubyak: We've been presenting ourselves as WEX for some time now with our various partners. They've become used to hearing it, so we didn't think we were moving off the reservation and doing something radical. And this is probably the time to make that change since we are becoming more aggressive in going into different geographies and moving into different products sets. NPN: What was the specific process that was used in your rebranding? Dubyak: We selected a company called Neubrand that had been working with us since March and we think they have done a wonderful job understand- ing our business model and understanding what differentiates us in the marketplace. That is espe- cially the case in the corporate payment solutions areas that we play in today. NPN: How do you see your expanding focus working to support both your existing customer base and future customers? Dubyak: We have 285,000 customers in the U.S. today and very few of them are international, so they may not see the direct results of our interna- tional move. But, for example, in Australia we are already seeing a lot of mobile technology in retail for payment transactions, and we're learning from that. We've done some tests down there, and we've actually done some tests in the United States with mobile payment capability. We are using digital solutions in Australia for one of our lines of busi- ness. So, we are learning internationally and we can bring best practices and be ready back here with some of those solutions. NPN Magazine n www.npnweb.com OPERATIONS