Brazilian Bank, Telco Make NFC Play (March 27, 2014)
Brazilian mobile network operator Claro has partnered with Bradesco, one of that country’s largest banks, to create an NFC-based mobile payment service. The service initially will launch in São Paulo in the first half of this year, with a rollout to the rest of Brazil to follow. At full rollout, the service will reach a customer base of 85 million and serve 200,000 POS terminals nationwide, according to the companies. The mobile wallet software will be pre-installed on all new Claro NFC handsets and also will be available to download from the Google Play Store. The wallet is compatible with MasterCard and Visa accounts.
Claro last year piloted an NFC transit ticketing service in Rio de Janeiro in partnership with three other mobile carriers. Bradesco has another NFC payments initiative in the works with mobile network Vivo, which is set to roll out this year. The bank also joined with mobile operator TIM for an NFC pilot in Rio and São Paulo in June 2013. Brazil has a fast-growing payments infrastructure; the nation was among those listed as moving rapidly away from a cash-based economy in a recent report by MasterCard Advisors.
