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NovoPayment Inc. has formed a joint venture called Tebca Peru to issue prepaid benefit cards in Peru, the U.S.-based manager of prepaid cards in Latin America announced Tuesday. NovoPayment formed the venture with Interbank Group, a Peru-based holding company. The Provis Alimenation cards will replace government-issued paper vouchers that enable consumers to buy groceries. "This is a pretty big deal because it is the first time cards have been used to replace [those types of] paper vouchers in Peru," a NovoPayment spokesperson tells CardLine Global. Interbank Group's Banco Internacional del Peru will issue the cards. Peru-based Banco Internacional issues both Visa- and MasterCard-branded cards, but the spokesperson did not know what brand the prepaid cards will carry, and immediate comment from the Peruvian firm was not available. Also unclear is how much money Peru's government expects to save by replacing paper vouchers with the cards. Banco Internacional expects to issue 200,000 cards in the first two years, NovoPayment says. Tebca Peru also plans to develop a reloadable general-purpose prepaid card. NovoPayment is developing similar prepaid card programs in Mexico and Colombia, the spokesperson says. Prepaid cards are an attractive payment option in Latin America because 65% to 70% of consumers lack bank accounts, the spokesperson says.
