06 September 2013
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.”
