Credicard, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Citigroup Inc., has signed a binding agreement with Elavon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp and leading global payments provider, for the establishment of a joint venture which will be a merchant services company offering payment solutions to the Brazilian marketplace.

Combined with Credicard’s market expertise and brand recognition, Elavon will deliver a robust processing platform, financial efficiency, innovative payment solutions and secure point-of-sale devices for mobile acceptance environments.

“Since 2005, Brazil’s credit card market has grown at a 20-plus percent rate annually,” said Mike Passilla, President and CEO of Elavon. “We are excited to further drive this market growth by combining our best-in-class products, services and capabilities with Credicard’s market leadership position to offer new operational efficiencies and highly reliable solutions for small and national-level merchants in Brazil.”