Cielo Review

Cielo is one of Brazil's two largest card acquirers, based in Barueri, São Paulo, and it serves Brazilian businesses only. It was incorporated in 1995 and traded as VisaNet until it was renamed Cielo (announced in November 2009; some sources date the formal change to July 2010). Banco do Brasil and Bradesco control it, directly and through companies they jointly own, and took it off the B3 stock exchange in August 2024. Cielo signs the merchant agreement itself and sells card machines (maquininhas), tap-to-phone, payment links and e-commerce APIs. As of October 2026 its plans page lists two published plans. The Aluguel rental plan, for registered companies (CNPJ), charges 1.19% on debit and 3.45% on one-payment credit. The terminal is free in any month your card sales reach R$15,000; otherwise it costs R$99.90 a month. The Comodato plan, open to individuals too, costs a one-off R$238.80 (or 12 payments of R$19.90) and charges 1.90% debit and 4.30% credit. Both plans pay out in up to one day, subject to eligibility. Instalment sales cost much more: up to 14.79% (Aluguel) or 19.00% (Comodato) for 12 instalments. The agreement has no fixed term and either side can end it on 30 days' written notice without penalty. Cielo holds Reclame Aqui's top RA1000 rating, but improper charges are the problem tagged on 52.9% of the complaints it classifies.

Estimated annual cost at three realistic processing volumes, using Cielo’s published online rate plus monthly fees. Real costs vary with average transaction size, chargeback rate, and any negotiated terms.

What Cielo is

Cielo is a Brazilian card acquirer, or credenciadora: the company that signs up a merchant, captures its card sales and pays them out. Its legal name is Cielo S.A. – Instituição de Pagamento, and it is headquartered at Alameda Xingu 512 in Alphaville, Barueri, São Paulo. Its 2025 financial statements say it was incorporated on 23 November 1995. It traded as VisaNet (Companhia Brasileira de Meios de Pagamento) and listed on the São Paulo exchange under that name in June 2009. VisaNet announced the Cielo name on 10 November 2009, ahead of the end of its Visa exclusivity in July 2010, and Banco do Brasil's 2010 SEC filing describes it as 'newly renamed Cielo'. Some sources date the formal change of name to 1 July 2010; we have not found a primary record that settles it.

Cielo works only in Brazil. It sells Cielo Flash and Cielo Smart card machines, Cielo Tap (tap-to-pay on an Android phone or iPhone), Pix, payment links, a hosted checkout, an e-commerce API and gateway, payment splitting and receivables advances. In its 2025 management report it says it processed R$897.8 billion in transactions that year. Its 70%-owned subsidiary Cateno, which manages Banco do Brasil's Ourocard payment accounts, processed a further R$451.0 billion. Moody's Local Brasil, in a July 2026 credit report, put Cielo's 2025 share of the card market at 19.7% and its active merchants at about 780,000, calling it one of the country's two largest acquirers.

Who owns it

Banco do Brasil and Bradesco control Cielo. In August 2024 they bought out minority shareholders through a delisting tender offer (OPA) on B3. The auction on 14 August 2024 acquired 736.9 million shares (27.1% of the capital) at R$5.82 each, taking the offering shareholders to 93.4%, according to Cielo's material fact. The CVM moved Cielo from category A to category B issuer status on 26 August 2024, and its shares stopped trading under CIEL3. Cielo's investor-relations site lists the shareholders as of 30 September 2024: Bradesco (through Quixaba Empreendimentos e Participações) with 30.61%, Banco do Brasil (through BB Elo Cartões Participações) with 29.17%, Livelo with 20.52% and Elo Participações with 19.70%. Bradesco's 2024 SEC filing describes Livelo and Elo Participações as indirect subsidiaries of Bradesco and Banco do Brasil.

Why we list Cielo as a platform / acquirer

You sign Cielo's own accreditation agreement (Contrato de Credenciamento ao Sistema Cielo, registered in Barueri under no. 2096773). Cielo captures, processes and settles your transactions and pays you into your bank account. No ISO or payment facilitator stands between you and the acquirer, so we classify it as a platform / acquirer.

What it costs

Cielo publishes two entry plans for its terminals. The rates below are from cielo.com.br/planos as of October 2026. The page labels them 'taxas a partir de' (rates from) and says they can vary with your revenue and with whether you sell as an individual (PF) or a company (PJ). It does not say whether taxes are included.

• Aluguel (rental), for companies (CNPJ): the terminal is free in any month card sales reach R$15,000, or R$99.90 a month if they do not. Debit 1.19%, one-payment credit 3.45%, 2 instalments 5.95%, 6 instalments 11.19%, 12 instalments 14.79%. Pix on the terminal 0% for 30 days, then 0.99%.
• Comodato (loan), individuals or companies: a one-off R$238.80, or 12 payments of R$19.90, with no monthly revenue target. Debit 1.90%, one-payment credit 4.30%, 2 instalments 6.50%, 6 instalments 11.30%, 12 instalments 19.00%. Pix 0.99%.
• Personalizado: negotiated pricing for businesses selling R$15,000 or more a month, with same-day and weekend payouts.
• Payment links and Cielo Tap: no monthly fee. Debit 1.07%, one-payment credit 3.48%, 2 instalments 5.97%, rising to 16.07% for 12 instalments.
• Online Checkout, API and gateway: quoted by monthly online revenue band, with no published rate.

The published plans bundle payout in up to one day. That helps explain why instalment sales cost so much more than one-payment sales: the merchant is paid the next day for money the cardholder pays over up to 12 months. As an illustration on the Aluguel plan, a R$1,000 one-payment credit sale costs R$34.50, and the same sale split into 12 instalments costs R$147.90.

The agreement's fee annex also lists charges whose amounts are not on the plans page. They include an accreditation fee, an annual registration-maintenance fee, a monthly connectivity fee, a chargeback fee, a cancellation fee, a card-not-present fee, a pre-authorisation fee, a retry fee for resubmitting a declined card, a terminal-maintenance fee for loaned terminals and a non-return fee. The agreement says they apply 'conforme tabela em vigor' (according to the table in force). Ask for the full table before you sign. Cielo can also replace a percentage rate with a minimum fixed charge on transactions too small to cover its costs. It can raise your rate automatically when interchange or scheme fees rise or when a card scheme reclassifies your business category (MCC). Overdue amounts carry 1% a month interest plus at least IGP-M inflation correction.

Payouts and holds

Payout in one day, weekends and holidays included, comes through Vendeu, Tá na Conta, Cielo's automatic receivables advance. Eligibility depends on having no unpaid obligations to Cielo, keeping any required financial reserve, and transactions passing Cielo's fraud and credit checks. Its terms say sales captured by 7 p.m. are paid by Pix the same day and later ones the next day. Cielo can change the discount rate or the eligibility conditions with notice, and you can cancel the product at any time. Without it, the agreement pays each one-payment sale, or each instalment of an instalment sale, on the agreed schedule. Payment-link sales qualify for one-day payout only after two consecutive months of revenue without irregular transactions.

The agreement lets Cielo withhold or reverse payment for chargebacks, cancellations, processing errors, missing proof of sale, or chip cards that were not read by chip. If it suspects fraud, it can suspend payouts for up to 180 days. Cielo can also withhold funds if a merchant becomes insolvent or closes. You have 10 calendar days to answer a chargeback notice.

Contract and terminals

The current accreditation agreement took effect on 15 January 2024 and runs indefinitely. Either side may end it, wholly or partly, at any time on at least 30 days' written notice, 'sem ônus ou multa' (without charge or penalty). Cielo can end it immediately in listed cases, including fraud, false information, an inactive CNPJ not fixed within 30 days, a suspected deterioration in your finances, or an instruction from a card scheme or the Central Bank. Brazilian law governs, and disputes go to the courts of Barueri. An amendment dated 23 June 2026 changed its data-sharing clauses.

Rented and loaned terminals stay Cielo's property and must stay at your registered address. At the end you must return them within five business days. If you do not, the June 2026 terminal terms charge a monthly penalty of the pro-rata rent plus 40% until you do. A missing battery costs R$61.10, a cable R$47.64 and a charger R$61.29. Rent continues while a terminal is lost or unreturned.

Reputation and regulatory record

Reclame Aqui is the main Brazilian complaints platform. In an archived copy of Cielo's page dated 23 September 2026, Cielo held the top RA1000 rating with a score of 9.1 out of 10 for March to August 2026. It had 3,332 complaints in that period, answered all but one of them and resolved 96.4%, and 81.9% of complainants said they would do business with it again. The average consumer score was 8.63, and the average response time was about five days. Over 12 months to August 2026 it had 6,291 complaints and the same 9.1 score. Improper charges ('cobrança indevida') make up 52.9% of the problems the page lists. Recent complaint titles concern rental fees and Pix charges that merchants say they were promised would be waived.

In September 2018 Brazil's competition authority, CADE, approved settlement agreements (Termos de Compromisso de Cessação) with Cielo, Banco do Brasil and Bradesco in investigation 08700.001860/2016-51. The case concerned alleged discrimination against rival acquirers' merchants: bank-account 'locks' on card receivables, retaliation against merchants that switched, tied selling and long incentive contracts. Cielo agreed to pay R$29.7 million of the R$33.8 million total, and committed to limit incentive contracts to 24 months without automatic renewal unless the merchant chooses otherwise. The settlement suspended the inquiry for the signatories pending CADE certifying compliance; it is not a finding of wrongdoing.

Who should use Cielo

Cielo suits a Brazilian business that wants a terminal, tap-to-phone and payment links from a large bank-owned acquirer, with payouts the next day. On the Aluguel plan, the numbers work best for a company that reliably sells at least R$15,000 a month on cards. A smaller seller, or an individual, will pay either the R$99.90 rental charge or the Comodato plan's higher rates. A business that sells mainly in many instalments should price the instalment rates carefully. A larger merchant should ask for a Personalizado quote and the full fee table before signing. Cielo is not an option for businesses outside Brazil.