Banorte and Rêv Worldwide launch MiFon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BANORTE AND REV LAUNCH MiFon, FIRST OUT-OF-THE BRANCH MOBILE-BASED FINANCIAL SERVICES PROGRAM AIMED AT MILLIONS OF UNDERSERVED MEXICANS
Country’s Only Deposit Account Not Requiring a Branch Visit to Open, Offers Card Payments, Deposits and Money Transfers with Mobile Phones, Bank Accounts, and A Nationwide Network of Bank Agents
Austin, Texas, January 17, 2012 – Banorte, Mexico’s third largest bank, and Rêv Worldwide, a payment solutions company, announced the launch of a new financial services program explicitly designed to foster financial inclusion among individuals with limited access to basic financial services, leveraging non-traditional channels of acquisition, proprietary mobile payments technology and a robust debit card program platform.
Banorte’s strategic alliance with Rêv Worldwide has delivered a unique program that combines a deposit account with the bank linked to a MasterCard debit card, with unique mobile payments functionality open to Mexico’s leading carriers, and a nationwide network of bank agents including Telecomm Telégrafos, a government operated retail agent network offering communication and financial services to Mexicans nationwide.
On the launch of this program, Héctor Abrego, Senior Vice President of Alternate Channels with Grupo Financiero Banorte, stated, “MiFon will become Banorte’s key program to increase the penetration of banking services in our country. It will allow a large segment of Mexicans who still do not have access to financial services to get close to a bank for the very first time”.
Roy Sosa, CEO of Rêv Worldwide, added “MiFon represents our company’s mission to empower customers worldwide with the affordable and relevant financial services they need, taking our best practices from around the world and many years of product development in this area.”
In addition to enjoying the benefits of MasterCard acceptance across a network of over 30 million merchants and hundreds of thousands of ATMs worldwide, MiFon users will also be able withdraw funds at any of the more than 6,200 Banorte ATMs, and send money from one account to another one using their mobile phone. Gradually, a variety of new services will be introduced, including mobile top-ups.
All mobile functionalities will be available via SMS text messages given that this technology is widely used by most Mexicans. The first stage of the launch, jointly with Telecomm Telégrafos, will start this month in the State of Oaxaca, and will be rolled out nationally during the first quarter of 2012.
With this new program, Banorte and Rêv ratify their commitment to deliver financial services to all Mexicans.
###
About Banorte
About Rêv Worldwide
Founded by prepaid debit industry pioneers Roy and Bertrand Sosa, Rêv Worldwide is a global payments company dedicated to driving the widespread availability of financial services in underserved markets around the world. Rêv helps partners rapidly and effectively access hard-to-reach markets and enables underserved consumers to make affordable, safe and convenient financial transactions. Rêv’s full range of integrated mobile and prepaid card solutions – including Rêv-branded, co-branded and affinity products – are issued by banks, powered by its multi-language, multi-currency processing platform, and delivered by partners and Rêv directly to consumers through its growing retail network. Rêv is headquartered in Austin, Texas and operates in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, and is a member of the MPOWER Ventures investment portfolio. Learn more at www.revworldwide.com.
Media Contact:
Rêv Worldwide
Jason Jepson
(949) 394-7033
jason.jepson@revworldwide.com