Fintech firm Airfox has collaborated with Mastercard Brazil to expand digital banking services in the country.
Image: Digital challenger bank banQi is making it easier and less expensive for people to access their money and build wealth. Photo: courtesy of PRNewswire / Airfox.
The partnership has been established to extend the availability of affordable and cost-free banking solutions with 1% cashback to customers.
Digital challenger banking startup has also established partnerships Cielo and Zurich Insurance to expand its existing collaboration with Brazil retail major Via Varejo.
According to Airfox, the new contracts exceed $77m (£61.2m).
The partnership is expected to boost the presence of Airfox’s free banking service, banQi, in Brazil. Airfox has worked with its strategic partner Via Varejo to expand its digital wallet into a challenger bank.
With the support of Mastercard Brazil, the banQi clients can access digital and physical prepaid cards, which can be used for online and offline purchases.
Airfox Mastercard feature, which will be available from this year, will make easily access cash and allows banQi clients to withdraw cash directly from most ATMs in Brazil.
Mastercard South America and Brazil president João Pedro Paro Neto said: “This strategic partnership with Airfox provides not only convenience and secure transactions, but also financial and digital inclusion for a portion of the population that doesn’t have access to financial and digital services.”
Airfox’s digital challenger bank will be available in more than 800 Casas Bahia stores across Brazil by the end of this year.
Airfox has collaborated with Latin America’s major credit and debit payment processor Cielo to facilitate banQi clients to pay for purchases through mobile device using QR codes.
The banQi platform incorporates with over 1.2 million convenient Cielo point-of-sale (POS) locations in stores and retailers across Brazil.
The banQi is said to be the only digital bank in Brazil launching 1,000 offline physical “bank branches” in Casas Bahia stores.
Airfox CEO and founder Victor Santos said: “Generally, the poorer you are, the more you pay for financial services and the less access you have to wealth-building instruments. Today’s largely digital world presents an opportunity to balance that inequity — and banQi services represent a leap in the right direction.”