MasterCard Debuts Mobile Payments in Brazil

MasterCard is bringing its mobile PayPass contactless payment technology to Brazil, in partnership with Itau, TIM, Redecard and Gemalto.

Using PayPass, a consumer can tap a PayPass-enabled smartphone onto the merchant’s Near Field Communication terminal from Redecard, a Brazilian multi-brand acquirer. Purchases are charged to a virtual account linked to the user's smartphone and billed via the account holder’s statement with Itau, a Sao Paulo-based bank.  TIM is an Italian telecom with a subsidiary in Brazil, and Gemalto is a digital security company.

The service is aimed at consumers making payments at fast food restaurants, public transportation, gas stations, drug stores, vending machines and movie theaters. It will launch with a handful of merchants in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

As part of the initiative, MasterCard is also building the ability to connect MasterPass, its new digital wallet, to a PayPass-enabled handset that has been provisioned for NFC payments at the cash register. MasterCard, which has been pushing a tech-agnostic model for MasterPass, did not immediately return requests for comments this morning regarding its Brazilian NFC deployment.

MasterCard is debuting MasterPass in Canada and Australia with plans for further global expansion in the coming months. MasterPass is up against a number of emerging mobile wallets, including rival Visa’s V.me.