Zuum, a mobile payment service launched in partnership between Vivo and Mastercard in 2013, has seen rapid adoption in the state of Bahia, the fourth most populous state of 26 states in Brazil, making up 45% of its customer base.
According to Vivo, the service has been rolled out in more than 50 cities todate,covering São Paulo, Sergipe, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia.
The service enables Vivo’s customers to have access to a pre-paid account on their phone that will allow them to transfer money, buy credits for Vivo’s pre-paid mobile phones and pay their bills. In addition, customers can also choose to receive a pre-paid card from MasterCard which is connected to the same pre-paid account.
Vivo said that one of the factors that contributed to the popularity of the service is the fact that it is compatible not only with smartphones, but also with simpler phones with GSM-only access, as it uses the USSD technology to provide these services .
