In late July, WEX hosted customers and partners in Portland, Maine, near its new global headquarters at WEX Spark Global Fleet 2019 — a three-day event with seminars, technology demonstrations, and roundtable discussions about product innovation, strategy, and partnership.

Melissa Smith, WEX's president and CEO, kicked off the event by thanking customers and partners for their continued loyalty and partnership, and for taking the time out of their schedules to travel to Maine.

Smith discussed how recent acquisitions including Noventis, Discovery Benefits, and the Go Fuel Card business of EG Group will support the overall growth strategy at WEX.

She talked about WEX's focus on technology, how the company is building platform capacity for future growth, increasing speed to market, and "being very deliberate about the products the company delivers to the marketplace."

Scott Phillips, global fleet president, told those gathered that they are an important part of the WEX innovation and product development process. "We use this time together each year to test ideas and gain feedback as we collaborate together," Phillips said.

He talked about the investments WEX is making in the business and with its customers, including new products and services, enhanced user experiences across digital platforms and contact centers, powerful new risk mitigation tools and technologies, and significant investments in marketing technologies.

Phillips also recognized first-time attendees and thanked 20 customers and partners for their more than 20-year relationship with WEX. WEX was founded in 1983.

Featured keynote speaker, Max Major, a mentalist, gave a performance about creativity and imagination during the opening general session. With a series of magic tricks and mental conditioning, he provided a reminder, "Nothing is impossible."

The remaining days of the event saw attendees participate in breakout sessions on WEX Fleet DriverDash, a mobile fuel payments app that allows fuel transactions from inside vehicles at approximately 25,000 fueling locations, and WEX EV FleetCharge that allows cardholders to pay for electric vehicle charges at more than 66,000 ChargePoint sites.

Other topics included new analytics advances within the ClearView data visualization software, customer experience enhancements within the WEXOnline service portal, and a preview of new products and technology in the pipeline.

It was the first time the company's annual event for large users unified the major sectors of WEX's global fleet business under the new Spark banner, with oil companies, retail petroleum companies, transportation companies, government fleets and corporate fleets in attendance.