Itau will have flag to fight the Elo

Sao Paulo-the new flag of Itaú Unibanco and Mastercard cards must enter into operation at the beginning of next year.
The brand, which had its debut delayed by the time Administrative Council for economic Defense (Cade) took to approve the joint venture between the two companies, will hit head-on with Elo, Bradesco, Banco do Brazil and Caixa Economica Federal, that sum more than 95,000,000.
The expectation, according to Marcos Magalhães, Director of Ita cards, is that the flag is in operation in the first quarter of 2017 or, at worst, early in the second.
Right now, the partners are defining the name, he says in an interview to the Broadcast, news in real time system of Grupo Estado.
The brand, which will be stamped on debit and credit cards, can''t, by determining Where Itaú or refer to the Mastercard to avoid, in the view of the Agency, migration of the customer base.
The operating Alliance with Mastercard should have been initiated in 2015, but was at the mercy of the Cade, who considered the deal "complex" last November.
The expectation of the partners had been renewed for this year, but in January 2016, the governing body recommended the impeachment of the merger between the Bank and the flag.
The case was forwarded to the Court of the Cade, which approved the new arrangement a little more than two months.
The deal between the largest private financial institution in the country and the Mastercard was considered, by many, as a response to the onslaught of its competitors through the Link tag.
But the Ita Executive says that the flag of Bradesco, BB and brought more significant effects Box to the adquirência market, and not necessarily for the card issuers.
The Cielo, controlled by Bradesco and BB, managed to keep their slice of about 53% intact since the opening of the market in 2010, as it was the only one captured transactions link.
On the other hand, the network of ITA, lost nine percentage points since then, under the justification that is focused on profitability.
In addition, the network still had to be integrated into the Ita after the Bank closes the capital of ex-Redecard. At the same time, GetNet, Santander, won market.
Today, the industry''s largest ever capture Elo, but the flag is still inaccessible to new entrants, according to sources.
Hipercard
Despite the launch of the new flag, Hipercard, according to the Director of Ita cards, will be maintained. With 5,000,000 active cards, has market share of 4%.
"The Hipercard has 40 years and is very strong in the North and South of the country. The flags will operate simultaneously, "says Maan. The information is from the newspaper O Estado de s. Paulo.