Brazilian bank Itaú Unibanco Holding has entered into a 20-year agreement with MasterCard to create and operate a new electronic payments network in Brazil.
Under the terms of the deal, Itaú will provide payment solutions including credit, debit and pre-paid cards as part of the newly created payments network and also improve the efficiency of their payment value chain.
Subject to approval by regulatory authorities, the agreement aims to boost the long-term relationship between the two companies.
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Additionally, the operations and transaction routing for the new network will be managed by Mastercard.
Itaú Unibanco executive director Milton Maluhy Filho said: “This strategic alliance will allow us to focus on growing the issuing and acquiring operations, especially as it relates to the new payments network.
“This will offer access to new payment technologies, benefit from economies of scale and efficiency, and capitalize on MasterCard’s experience in managing leading payment brands. We will continue working with other networks to offer commercial and co-branded cards for the consumer.”
MasterCard Brasil and Geo South president João Pedro Paro Neto said: “For many decades, we have worked together to provide credit and debit cards to consumers and businesses of all sizes.”