Cielo S.A.

Cielo S.A.
Company typeSociedade Anônima
B3: CIEL3
Ibovespa Component
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1997
HeadquartersBarueri, São Paulo,
Brazil
Key people
Estanislau Bassols (CEO)
ProductsPayment systems
RevenueIncrease US$ 3.0 billion (2018)
Decrease US$ 923.0 million (2018)
Number of employees
1,174
Websitewww.cielo.com.br

Cielo is the largest Brazilian credit and debit card operator. Cielo is the biggest payment system company in Latin America by revenue and market value.

History

Companhia Brasileira de Meios de Pagamento (Brazilian Company of Means of Payment), dba VisaNet, was founded in 1995 as a joint-venture between Visa International and the banks Bradesco, Banco do Brasil, Banco Real (currently Banco Santander), and the now defunct Banco Nacional. Its purpose was to create a common infrastructure to be used by all banks issuing Visa cards, instead of each bank having a separate technological solution to process credit card transactions.[1]

On July 1, 2010, VisaNet was renamed Cielo and was no longer the only processor of Visa cards in Brasil, following a regulation by the Brazilian government. Its main competitor, Rede, was now allowed to process Visa cards, and Cielo was allowed to process Mastercard, Diners Club and other cards which were only processed by Redecard.[2]

IPO

VisaNet debuted on the São Paulo Stock Exchange on June 29, 2010 listed in Novo Mercado. It was the third largest IPO in the history of Bovespa, only behind Banco Santander Brasil and BB Seguridade. The company raised the equivalent of R$ 8.397 billion or US$ 4.428 billion through the sale of 559.8 million ordinary shares, 41% of the shares of the company.[3]

References

  1. ^ ""History" on Cielo's website (in Portuguese)". Archived from the original on 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  2. ^ "Card operators to unify terminals as of today" in Folha de S.Paulo July 1, 2010
  3. ^ "Brazilian shares ease; VisaNet set for debut". Retrieved 2019-12-02.