PagBrasil, the premier online payments processing service for Brazil, has now added domestic Debit Cards to its broad set of local payment methods. As the first Payment Service Provider in Brazil to support debit cards of all major banks, PagBrasil takes Brazilian e-commerce to the next level.
Debit cards are issued by all major banks in Brazil and are therefore very popular and widespread. Debit card payments represent a stable 35% of all card payments, according to Abecs, the Brazilian Association of Credit Card and Service Companies. In terms of number of transactions, debit cards represent 50% and have recently slightly overtaken credit cards. The importance of debit cards is underlined by the fact that towards the end of the year 2013, 64% of all Brazilians over 18 years had a debit card, while 50% had a credit card. In Brazil, debit cards are called ‘cartão de débito’ and are increasingly replacing other means of payment such as boleto bancário, checks and cash.
Ralf Germer, the CEO and co-founder of PagBrasil, remarks: “Apart from contributing to an important growth potential and increase in conversions for our clients, debit cards give access to lower income classes where credit card penetration is less. In addition, there is practically no risk of chargebacks and debit card payments are also perceived as secure by the user. Compared to boleto bancário payments, the immediate payment confirmation is another advantage.”
PagBrasil now supports debit cards of 12 banks covering all major entities in Brazil in addition to domestic credit cards, boleto bancário and online banking transfers.