SAO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Visa (NYSE: V) today announced a strategic minority investment in Conductor, a leading digital payments processing technology platform in Brazil, to help accelerate innovation in payments and enable Conductor’s product expansion. The investment reinforces the existing partnership between Visa and Conductor, as well as the companies’ shared vision for driving adoption of digital payments across e-commerce and mobile commerce in Brazil. Backed by Riverwood Capital since 2014, Conductor has become a key technology-processing platform for retailers, banks, and other companies in Brazil looking to issue different type of cards and digitize their payments, resulting in better engagement and increased loyalty amongst consumers.
Visa and Conductor’s areas of focus and product expansion plans include developing issuer-focused solutions for tokenizing payments via mobile wallets, improving access to Visa APIs, expanding the usage of push payments with Visa Direct, and increasing acceptance of digital payments among small and medium businesses, among other initiatives.
“We are proud that Conductor marks Visa’s first investment in Brazil. Conductor’s extensive experience as a technology processing platform—with solutions that include mobile and digital payment account software—makes them an ideal partner for building a strong payments ecosystem,” said Fernando Teles, country manager of Visa Brazil. “Our partnership is key for the development of new products and solutions that will shape the payments industry in Brazil,” he concluded.
”Over the past four years, Conductor has invested aggressively in its technology platform in order to facilitate payments for different type of clients, from some of the largest issuers across financial institutions and retailers to the rapidly emerging fintech ecosystem in Brazil. We have grown four times in size since 2014, and are excited to welcome Visa’s strategic investment as we evolve in our next phase of growth, including our expanding digital payments ecosystem,” said Antonio Soares, Conductor’s CEO.
"Through our investment in Conductor, we are reinforcing our commitment to significantly invest in attractive fintechs and key digital enablers from Latin America and the Caribbean, given the thriving community we are seeing throughout the region," said Ruben Salazar, Senior Vice President of Products and Innovation for Visa Latin America & Caribbean. "We believe Conductor’s merchant and bank relationships will allow them to develop payment solutions for underserved consumers in Brazil and across Latin America, and we are excited to work together on these initiatives,” he added.
Visa’s investment in Conductor is part of a broader global strategy to open up the Visa ecosystem and support a broad range of new partners who are helping to redefine and enhance the commerce experience for millions of consumers globally. Previously, Visa has made investments in Paidy, Behalf, YellowPepper, solarisBank, Marqeta, Klarna, Square and Stripe, among others. Visa’s support of fintechs goes well beyond investments. Earlier this month, Visa announced it would expand its fast-track onboarding program to fintechs from Latin American and the Caribbean in December 2018 to provide them with the ability to more rapidly onboard to VisaNet, Visa’s global network.
About Visa Inc.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/blog.html and @VisaNews.
About Conductor Tecnologia S.A.
Conductor provides digital payment solutions to manage the entire operational cycle for issuers, fintech companies, and merchants in Brazil. The company’s proprietary digital processing platform serves over 100 clients and 69 million end customer payment accounts and is connected to more than 135 thousand merchant point of sales throughout the country. The Company has been backed by Riverwood Capital since 2014.
About Riverwood Capital
Riverwood Capital is a private equity firm that invests in high-growth, middle-market companies primarily in the global technology, technology-enabled, and other related industries, including businesses in the financial services, consumer and services sectors where the use of software, information and digital technologies, and similar fields, can contribute to value creation. Riverwood offers a unique combination of operational, strategic, technology, and financial insight to portfolio companies that typically need growth capital and expertise to scale on a global basis. The firm seeks to invest in established businesses with a proven technology and business model, and the proper fit in terms of culture and values, in both minority and control situations. Riverwood has offices in Menlo Park, CA; New York, NY; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Please visit www.riverwoodcapital.com
