InComm Expands Into Brazil With Unik Prepaid Card Deal

InComm Inc. plans to develop local prepaid products in Brazil through an agreement it announced May 17 with prepaid card provider Unik S.A.

Unik already has a strong card base Brazil, where an increasing number of U.S. companies are beginning to focus their attention.

“Unik issued and processed more than 3 million gift and [reloadable] prepaid cards for use in the retail [environment] and is connected to nearly 30,000 retailers’ points-of-sale across the country,” Jose Roberto Kracochansky, Unik general director, said in the release.

InComm and Unik representatives were unavailable for comment by PaymentsSource’s deadline.

Atlanta-based InComm’s move into Brazil continues a trend for payments companies entering “one of the hottest emerging markets,” observes Brian Riley, a research director in the bank cards practice at TowerGroup.

Alliance Data Systems Corp. on May 5 announced a partnership with Banco do Brasil SA for the national rollout of Dotz, a broad payment card-based loyalty program (see story).

Fidelity National Information Services Inc. on May 3 announced a processing joint venture in Brazil with Banco Bradesco SA and is handling its ELO-branded credit cards.

ELO is a credit card company jointly operated by Brazilian state-run bank Caixa Economica Federal, the state-controlled Banco do Brasil and private bank Banco Bradesco SA. The banks designed the card compete with Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide in the Brazilian market (see story).

Riley believes ELO might represent another potential partner for InComm because the banks also issue prepaid cards under the ELO brand.

Prepaid card providers such as InComm and Blackhawk Network, a subsidiary of Safeway Inc., increasingly are expanding into international markets to strengthen their footprint in the space. Blackhawk recently expanded into Mexico, and it also launched gift card displays at a United Kingdom-based supermarket chain (see story).

Riley believes companies’ international efforts is not a sign the United States payments market is saturated.

“The U.S. market continues to be a good proving ground for prepaid cards,” he says. Companies can test what works in a “high-volume” market before offering those options overseas, Riley adds.

In related news, InComm on May 18 announced the expansion of its relationship with Abingdon, Va.-based grocery chain K-VA-T Food Stores Inc. Beginning this month, InComm will have gift card displays in all 106 K-VA-T locations.

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