Two of the largest Brazilian telecommunications companies, Oi and Vivo, recently launched their digital accounts. The new services reinforce the companies’ strategy of offering financial services and positioning themselves as digital service hubs in addition to telecommunication services.
The focus on financial services as a way of adding value to the service platform and increasing recurrence is a trend that has also been observed among large retailers.
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Vivo has just announced the launch of its digital account, Vivo Pay. Through the digital account, which is available to any user, and not just company customers, it is possible to make payments, transfers via PIX (Brazilian instant-payment system), payment of slips, cell phone recharge, and also to offering a virtual prepaid card for online shopping.
The digital account is part of the company’s expansion strategy in the financial services segment. Last October, Vivo had already launched Vivo Money, a personal credit line available to part of its customers.
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According to the company, the pandemic has accelerated the financial inclusion of Brazilians, but there are still millions of people without access to banking services, many of whom are Vivo customers. These are the people Vivo wants to bring to its platform.
Another telecom giant and Vivo’s rival, Oi also launched a digital account in partnership with fintech Conta Zap a few days ago. The service allows financial transactions through WhatsApp, such as bill payment, transfers via PIX and cell phone recharge.
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According to Oi, the digital account comes to add value to the service portfolio and promote the financial inclusion of unbanked people.
Oi‘s digital account is also not exclusive to its customers and can be opened by users of any telecom, but Oi customers have access to some exclusive benefits, such as bonuses in the data pack linked to cell phone recharge.
