With a penetration rate over 102%, Brazil has one of the largest rates of cell phones in Latin America. Despite of that, the mobile payment market in the country is still small, with few transaction  made through cell phone.

Nevertheless, due to the enormous potential of the mobile payment market in Brazil, all stakeholders involved in the means of payment landscape are currently focused on developing new mobile payment platforms and creating products utilizing cell phones as a means of payment.

The total number of mobile payment transactions in Brazil reached a total of 3.9 million in 2010. This number is negligible in comparison to the total number of transactions effectuated by credit and debit cards that reached a total of 5.8 billion transactions in 2010. With growth rates over 30 percent in the short term, the number of transaction is likely to reach 5.1 million by the end of 2011.

“There are drivers with high impact in the short and medium terms that are likely to leverage the usage of this payment model in the country. A considerable unbanked population in Brazil, increase on mobile payment solutions and bundling advantages to other services are the main ones”, explains Marcelo Kawanami, Industry Manager for Frost & Sullivan. The company has produced a report on Brazil’s mobile payment market, and expects the industry to take off starting in 2012.

Source: NewswireToday