Cielo

Cielo started life in 1995 as VisaNet do Brasil, a joint venture between Visa and Brazilian banks including Bradesco and Banco do Brasil, and for years it was the only acquirer for Visa cards in the country. It took the Cielo name in July 2010, when exclusive scheme deals ended and rivals could process the same brands. Once a stock-market heavyweight, it left B3's Novo Mercado in August 2024 after companies of the Bradesco and Banco do Brasil groups bought out minority shareholders at R$5.82 a share, lifting their joint stake to 93.4%. The operating company is a payment institution, Cielo S.A.

Its business is acquiring for Brazilian merchants of every size. In store it supplies Cielo Flash, Cielo Smart and other terminals, plus Cielo Tap and Tap to Pay on iPhone. Online it sells the Cielo e-commerce API, Cielo Checkout and payment links, while its subsidiary Braspag runs a gateway, payment split, risk management and 3D Secure. The API takes credit cards on Visa, Mastercard, Elo, American Express, Diners Club, Discover, JCB, Aura and Hipercard, debit with 3DS 2.2 authentication, Pix QR codes and boleto, and its documentation covers Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Click to Pay.

Across its terminals Cielo lists 82 brands, most of them meal and benefit cards such as Alelo, Ticket, VR and Pluxee. Prices vary with revenue, business type and how quickly the merchant wants the money, and no fixed table is published. Pix sales can be received immediately.

Cielo suits Brazilian businesses, especially larger retailers and customers of its owner banks, that want a domestic acquirer with wide scheme coverage. It is a domestic operation: the API defaults to reais and Brazil, and cards issued abroad cannot be split into instalments. Foreign merchants without a Brazilian entity will need a cross-border provider instead.