MasterCard and Rev Worldwide launched Brazil’s first prepaid card for everyday purchases with Banco PanAmericano. The prepaid card services will be available throughout all participating PanAmericano stores in Brazil.

The PanAmericano MasterCard Prepaid Card is the only general purpose reloadable prepaid card available in Brazil today and does not limit the card’s use to specific transactions like existing prepaid products.

With no proof of income or credit check required, the PanAmericano Prepaid Card offers a convenient and affordable cash alternative to Brazil’s unbanked population, an estimated 75 million people.

Customers who buy and load cash on the card can make purchases online and anywhere in Brazil or abroad where MasterCard is accepted, withdraw cash from ATMs worldwide, transfer funds between card accounts and use the integrated mobile features to check balances and confirm transactions from their mobile phones with a simple text message.

Eliel Teixeira de Almeida, Banco PanAmericano’s Director of Card Products, noted that Brazil’s rapid economic development has lifted the living standards of millions of its citizens, but many Brazilians still do not have access to basic banking services.

Prepaid cards in other markets have proven an excellent alternative for promoting financial inclusion among these consumers since the cards do not require proof of income or a credit check, he said.

The percentage of Brazilians who do not use banking services is close to 40 percent according to IPEA, an economic think tank in Brazil, and 55 percent of employees in Brazil are paid in cash shows recent research from the Brazilian Central Bank.

Marcelo Tangioni, Vice President of Products at MasterCard, said the launch with PanAmericano represents a strategic move for MasterCard since the prepaid card is an ideal instrument for financial inclusion that allows unbanked consumers to access the electronic payments network.

In addition, it’s the right time to introduce the card – the prepaid market is in full swing in Latin America and today represents a US $12 billion market opportunity that could reach up to US $80 billion by 2017, said Tangioni.

According to Roy Sosa, Chairman and CEO, Rev Worldwide, the Company’s experience in markets around the world is demonstrating that the combination of prepaid cards and mobile phones offers a powerful mechanism for bringing more consumers into the mainstream financial system by delivering flexible, safe and accessible cash alternatives to consumers who need them most.