Mastercard proposes plan for Brazilian firms after Banco Master collapse

Mastercard is asking Brazilian payment processors to split the bill on one of the country’s biggest fintech implosions. The card network has proposed that acquirers, the companies that process card payments for merchants, collectively absorb roughly R$2.5 billion (about $440 million) in losses tied to the collapse of Banco Master SA and its fintech arm, Will Bank. The proposal comes after Mastercard already reimbursed approximately R$2.5 billion to acquirers for unsettled merchant payments. That figure represents about half of an estimated R$5 billion in total liability created when Banco Master’s failure left a gaping hole in the payment settlement chain. How the dominoes fell Banco Master was placed into extrajudicial liquidation on November 18, 2025, after fraud allegations surfaced that revealed R$17 billion in accounting discrepancies. Legal actions followed quickly, targeting prominent figures including the bank’s owner, Daniel Vorcaro. The liquidation exposed 1.6 million creditors holding R$41 billion in deposits. Will Bank, a fintech that Banco Master had acquired in 2024, was liquidated in January 2026. Because Mastercard served as the card network provider for Will Bank, ...