Telefónica and MasterCard Create Joint Venture for Mobile Payments

Telefónica and MasterCard will create a 50-50 joint venture focused on mobile financial solutions for Latin America. The new company will leverage Telefonica's telecommunications assets and MasterCard's payment's expertise. It will have an open model to ensure interoperability among the banked and unbanked segments, and serve as a bridge between the financial and telecommunications sectors.


Mobile payment services, which will be linked to a mobile wallet or prepaid account, could include money transfers, mobile airtime reload, bill payment and retail purchases, among others.


Telefónica is present in 12 Latin American countries with its Movistar brand and customer base of 87 million mobile users.
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