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Inmarsat and Onixsat power remote banking in Brazil

Inmarsat and service provider Onixsat are expanding support for Brazil's growing financial services sector.

Onixsat will focus on satellite services for remote banking in the north and north-east regions of the country, where 3G cellular coverage is non-existent or unreliable.

Febrabam, the Brazilian bank federation, reports that the country's banking networks grew by 79.8 per cent between 2006 and 2010. The majority of this growth focused on:

  • ATM services, and
  • Correspondent banking – services conducted on behalf of foreign banks.

Inmarsat and Onixsat have identified major opportunities for the adoption of Inmarsat's broadband IP data, machine-to-machine (M2M) and voice services.

Inmarsat's global, IP-encrypted satellite services enable banks to establish remote and temporary branches which are securely connected to their head office.

Point of sale

It also allows businesses such as shops, restaurants and hotels to accept bank card payments using electronic point-of-sale (PoS) devices.

In urban areas, where 3G connectivity can be intermittent, BGAN and M2M services can act as a back-up to terrestrial services.

“Onixsat has set itself the goal of adding 12,000 BGAN and BGAN M2M terminals over the next 12 months to support the take-up of banking services in areas where terrestrial data connections are either unreliable or non-existent,” said Igor Falcão, Business Manager at Onixsat.

Drew Brandy, Vice President of Enterprise Industry at Inmarsat, said: “Mobile satellite communications is increasingly recognised as a powerful tool for driving economic growth in regions where there is little or no effective terrestrial telecoms infrastructure.

“Satellite connectivity allows banks to expand their reach and attract new customers, enabling many more people to enjoy the benefits of secure banking facilities, regardless of their location.”