At the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting closing plenary, Tata Communications and MasterCard announced a CGI Commitment to Action to financially empower 25,000 women in the developing world, part of a larger vision to ultimately reach 100 million women.
CardWeb.com’s CardExecs database of payments industry movers and shakers today features Gabriel Yelin of President of Argentina’s CertiSur.
MasterCard has launched its Travel Service program in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. The program is now available to cardholders in the following markets: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
MasterCard Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has launched MasterCard Travel Services for Platinum MasterCard and MasterCard Black cardholders.
MasterCard Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) has launched an enhanced suite of travel benefits for Platinum MasterCard and MasterCard Black cardholders. The new MasterCard Travel Services includes personal planning assistance, preferential treatment and savings/benefits/upgrades.
Citibank unloads another international unit including its credit card business in Nicaragua. Grupo Financiero Ficohsa (GFF) is buying 100% of Banco Citibank de Nicaragua.
NY-based Regalii has expanded its remote bill pay platform to India. Regalii was the first company providing a mobile cross-border payment between US and Latin America.
Paying bills in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic from the U.S. has been made much easier with the launch of Xoom Bill Pay.
Banco Ficohsa completed the purchase of Banco Citibank de Honduras, S.A and Cititarjetas de Honduras, S.A., after receiving the required regulatory approvals. The acquisition is the largest transaction of its kind undertaken by a Honduran bank. Ficohsa now becomes the largest bank in Honduras and one of the top 10 banks in Central America. The deal included an US$ 80-million capital contribution, which brings Ficohsa’s total net worth to approximately US$ 350 million, which represents 21% of Honduras’ total financial system’s net worth. The contribution is comprised of tier 1 and tier 2 capital. The combined entity will have a loan portfolio of US$2 billion, a deposit base of over US$1.6 billion and US$ 2.7 billion in assets, which represent 20% of the total assets of the Honduran financial system (using pro forma figures of the companies combined as of March 31, 2014.)
MoneyGram announces a new channel to transfer money to Mexico at an unparalleled speed – in just 30 minutes. The launch of this near real-time service provides customers with a fast and secure option to send funds through the trusted MoneyGram network. This new offering complements MoneyGram’s strong bank account deposit network in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Xoom Corporation announced it has acquired BlueKite for approximately $15 million in cash and equity. BlueKite has built a robust technology platform for cross-border bill payments and mobile phone top ups. This acquisition will allow Xoom to offer adjacent services to their burgeoning money transfer offerings, with the ability to pay bills for their loved ones, as well as top-up mobile phones.
BlueKite international bill-payment solutions added Ecuador, Nicaragua and Panama to its network. BlueKite has developed proprietary technology that provides complementary payment options to millions of consumers who emigrated and still support friends and families back in their home countries. The new bill-payment services and utilities available through BlueKite include: Claro, CNT, ETAPA and EERSSA in Ecuador, Movistar and ENACAL in Nicaragua and IDAAN, ASEO, ENSA, SKY, CABLE ONDA, Claro TV and Claro in Panama. The company has been providing payment services to local billers including utilities and telecommunications companies in Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador.