Page 62 - Pay Magazine s2014

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Brazil Beckons
Brazil. Consumers there are realiz- ing the benefits and advantages of using electronic payments instead of cash, according to Marcelo Tangioni, vice president of products at MasterCard Brazil and GeoSouth.
MasterCard invested in Brazil
in 2013, creating a joint venture with Telefónica to develop Zuum,
a mobile payments platform built around a prepaid account. Zuum initially was marketed to Telefónica customers who don’t have access
to traditional financial services, enabling these consumers to make purchases in-store and online, trans- fer funds and pay bills. After nearly two years in the market, Zuum serves 320,000 customers in five Brazilian states. The service will expand to additional Brazilian states, and, at the end of 2014, Zuum was offered to customers
of any mobile carrier, Tangioni says.
MasterCard continues to work with mobile carriers to reach consumers, partnering in March with mobile operator TIM and Caixa Econômica Federal Bank to launch TIM Multi- bank Caixa. This mobile wallet and linked MasterCard prepaid card support payments, cash loads and other electronic transactions.
And, to serve Brazil’s increas- ingly connected consumers—
51 percent have Internet access— MasterCard also has expanded
its digital wallet MasterPass, with banks Banrisul, Caixa Econômica Federal and Santander connecting their proprietary wallets to the
top ReaSoNS to have a BRazil StRategy
• Well-organized banks with good infrastructure for payments acceptance
• 203 million people, with approximately 40 percent unbanked
• Passage of a 2013 e-money law experts believe will contribute to widespread use of financial services and will enable more players to enter the market
• Strong opportunities in e-commerce and other verticals, including mobile financial services, parents giving allowances to children and paying employees, such as gardeners and maids
gift CaRdS: fRUitfUl oR folly?
Gift cards are often the first prepaid cards to take off in a market, but some have suggested that culturally, Brazilians aren’t ready to embrace them. Blackhawk Network, which began distributing gift cards in Brazil in 2011, says Brazilian con- sumers use gift cards for different reasons than consumers in other markets.
“Since 2012, we’ve been experiencing exponential sales growth via retail distribution,” notes Glaucon Pereira, director, Blackhawk Network Brasil S.A. “We’re seeing development of more of a self-usage market than a pure gift market, which led us to change our portfolio priorities, such as focusing on open-loop GPR and Web payment products, including gaming and apps.” Blackhawk, which distributes more than 50 products across a retail network of 2,000 locations, also is expanding its digital content.
“Our market is a green field for current and future forms of value distribution, where, we are sure, retail will play a key role,” he adds.
With an office in São Paulo, Atlanta-based InComm has described Brazil as an integral part of its international expansion. The company plans to invest more than US$25 million in the country over the next five years, according to Felipe Papaleo, InComm general manager for Canada and Brazil.
InComm has a strong presence in the bookstore, gaming and drugstore segments in Brazil and is expanding into the convenience store and electronic channels. Products include gaming cards and gift cards for retailers, restau- rants, music, online educational courses and magazine subscriptions.
“Brazil still has many unexploited opportunities for prepaid cards and the potential of the market is huge,” says Paulo Oliveira Andreoli, managing director, InComm Brasil. “We’re having excellent sales of digital content cards ... and gift card sales also are growing, as Brazilians are discovering how convenient they are.”
Andreoli, however, warns that companies that want to do business in Brazil must study the culture of each region. A successful program implemented
in the south of Brazil is not a guarantee of success in the north of the country.
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