The entry on the Brazilian market of a joint venture between the Malta-listed RS2, a global payments processor and technology provider, and ACI Worldwide, a NASDAQ-listed leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software, is already seeing interest from prospective clients, with “a strong outlook and a healthy pipeline extending into 2025.”

A spokesperson for RS2, speaking to WhosWho.mt, says that the pipeline is already established, with business to commence this year.

In June, RS2 and ACI Worldwide announced they joined forces to offer a one-stop solution for acquirers and issuers in Brazil, combinig the best of ACI’s and RS2’s acquiring and issuing capabilities, supporting financial institutions, integrated software vendors, payment facilitators, independent sales organisations and payment processors on their digital transformation and modernisation journey.

The partnership brings the global expertise and technology of both companies to the Brazilian market jointly for the first time.

RS2 tells this newsroom that it has been witnessing a rising demand for modern, cloud-enabled, end-to-end acquiring and issuing capabilities, driven by the need to address legacy platform challenges and competitive pressures from neobanks and fintech companies in the region.

“Our advanced and fully integrated acquiring and card issuing capabilities, combined with ACI’s expertise in fraud and payments intelligence, provide payment companies with the flexibility to design and configure new products, modify existing ones, and effectively manage future payments securely – and these qualities became increasingly interesting for payment companies in Brazil.

“In fact, we are now already seeing a robust pipeline not only within Brazil but also across the broader LATAM region.”

The company clarified that the joint venture is on a global level, but has started in Brazil for the above-mentioned reasons.

The business model, RS2 confirmed, is based on profit sharing, with the company saying that its status as a public company precludes it from disclosing any further details.

About the new platform

The combined new cloud-enabled technology platform enables merchants, banks and payment service providers to launch new products and services efficiently using configuration portals that integrate seamlessly to third-party platforms, orchestrating the entire payments ecosystem within the client environment, making the platform secure, reducing operational costs and ultimately increasing revenues.

It is supported by ACI Fraud Management and Payments Intelligence, offering customers real-time enterprise fraud management capabilities, including advanced machine learning, predictive analytics and expertly defined rules to combat the growing threat of fraud.

The platform is certified for Brazil and meets all local regulatory requirements, including PCI, and local card scheme standards.

Key advantages of the new acquiring and issuing platform include:

• Acquiring: The joint solution is available as a software-as-a-service offering for the first time in Latin America, allowing existing financial players to launch a new acquiring business quickly and cost-efficiently. The new offering transforms the merchant experience, manages interchange fee risk and simplifies expansion and global compliance.

• Issuing: Issuers and processors profit from one single consolidated issuing platform for all card types, including credit, debit and pre-paid cards, domestic cards, and new payment instruments such as wearables – enabling them to offer customers better service, more choices and increased fraud protection.

Vlademir Santos

“We are delighted to join forces with RS2 and bring a sophisticated, end-to-end issuing and acquiring solution to the Brazilian market,” said Vlademir Santos, Head of Brazil, ACI Worldwide.

“Our combined new solution will be a game changer for the Brazilian market. It will enable our customers to drive business growth through a modern and flexible solution and to take advantage of new revenue opportunities of launching new products and services.”

“The constantly changing demands of customers to pay when, where and how they choose require innovation and financial agility from issuers and acquirers,” explained Radi El Haj, CEO of RS2.

“Our advanced and fully integrated acquiring and card issuing capabilities, combined with ACI’s fraud and payments intelligence expertise, provide payment companies with the flexibility to design and configure new products, modify existing ones and effectively manage future payments securely.”