Rede Review

Rede is the merchant acquiring business of Itaú Unibanco, Brazil's largest private bank. It started in 1996 as Redecard, Itaú took it private in 2012, and it has traded as Rede since 2013. The legal entity is Redecard Instituição de Pagamento S.A., authorised by the Banco Central do Brasil as a payment institution in the acquirer (credenciador) category. Rede signs the merchant agreement itself, so there is no reseller or sub-merchant layer between you and the acquirer. It rents out the orange "laranjinha" card terminals, and it also sells a payment-link tool, the e.Rede online API, the Maxipago gateway and prepayment of card receivables. It does not publish its card rates; its own FAQ says they are negotiated per business. It does publish terminal rental prices, which as of November 2026 run from R$19 to R$109 a month. Itaú Empresas account holders can have that rental waived once they bring enough sales volume to the bank. The contract has no fixed term, and either side can end it on 15 days' notice without penalty. Itaú reports that Rede was Brazil's largest acquirer by card volume in 2025. Rede holds Reclame Aqui's top RA1000 rating. It has settled two CADE competition cases, in 2014 and 2018.

What Rede is

Rede is the card acquiring business of Itaú Unibanco. It signs up Brazilian merchants, rents them card terminals, captures and processes their card transactions, and pays the money into their bank account. The company began in 1996 as Redecard, the acquirer for the Mastercard and Diners brands. For its first years each acquirer captured mainly its own brands' cards, and according to a 2025 CADE technical note Redecard and Visanet only began capturing rival brands in July 2010, when the exclusivities ended. In 2012 Itaú, which already owned about half of Redecard, made a public tender offer at R$35 a share. It bought 44.4% of the capital at the auction on 24 September 2012 and held 98.0% by October, when the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission cancelled Redecard's public registration. Rede's own history page says the brand was remodelled in 2013 and Redecard became Rede.

Scale is large. Itaú's 2025 reference form says that, according to the card industry association ABECS, Rede was the largest player in Brazilian merchant acquiring by credit and debit card volume in 2025, with a 22.7% share. Itaú's second-quarter 2026 results report acquiring volume of R$298.7 billion for the quarter, up 23.5% on a year earlier. Rede operates in Brazil only: the contract defines its transactions as those made at establishments in Brazil.

Why we list Rede as a platform (acquirer)

Rede holds the merchant relationship itself. The Banco Central do Brasil authorised Redecard S.A. in March 2017 to operate as a payment institution in the acquirer (credenciador) category, with Itaú Unibanco Holding as controller. The accreditation contract is signed between the merchant and Redecard Instituição de Pagamento S.A., which handles capture, routing, processing and settlement of the transactions. That puts it at the acquirer level of the payments chain, which our taxonomy groups under platform. It is not a payment facilitator or reseller, because no other company stands between you and the acquirer. It is not a gateway either, although it also sells one.

What it costs

Rede does not publish its card rates. Its FAQs for both the Laranjinha+ and the Laranjinha Smart say "As taxas são negociadas e personalizadas de acordo com seu modelo de negócio" (rates are negotiated and tailored to your business model). The terminals page describes the charge as a fee on every payment, whether débito, crédito à vista or parcelado, and sends you to a sales simulator rather than a rate table. Itaú's sales page for the terminals likewise offers "Taxas personalizadas para sua empresa". The rates for débito, crédito à vista, crédito parcelado and Pix are quoted per account. We could not find a vendor-owned page that lists them, so we print none.

What Rede does publish is the terminal rental, which is charged monthly per terminal. As of November 2026 its FAQ lists:

• Laranjinha+ (portable card terminal with Wi-Fi and 4G chip, printed receipts): R$69.00 a month.
• Laranjinha Smart (Android terminal with an app store): R$109.00 a month.
• Laranjinha Pin Pad (USB PIN pad for integrated checkouts, multi-acquirer): R$19.00 a month.
• PDV (point-of-sale integration): R$4.90 a month.
• The FAQ notes that rental prices negotiated in your contract take precedence over these list prices. It does not say whether taxes are included.

The rental waiver is the main way the price comes down, and it is tied to Itaú. Rede's FAQ says that an Itaú Empresas customer receiving more than R$7,000 a month in the Itaú business account, through the laranjinha or Pix, gets one terminal free of rental. Above R$20,000 that rises to two terminals, and above R$50,000 to four. The homepage headlines "Aluguel e mensalidade da conta PJ grátis" (free rental and business-account fee) for sales above R$20,000 a month, because at that level the Itaú Plano Adapt account fee can also be waived. Itaú's December 2024 Plano Adapt sheet lists those account plans at R$159, R$279 and R$389 a month before any waiver.

The contract allows other charges too: a monthly connectivity fee for PDV/TEF integrations, an indemnity for terminals not returned, and a sign-up fee (taxa de adesão), none of them priced publicly. Prices fixed in reais can be adjusted at any time, or as the law allows, by reference to the IPC/FGV inflation index (clause 3.4). Percentage rates can be changed at any time with 15 days' notice on Rede's site, in the portal or by another channel the parties normally use, and if you disagree your remedy is to terminate (clause 3.5). Clause 18.10 also allows rates to be adjusted, with prior notice, if unforeseen events upset the contract's financial balance. Clause 3.8 makes the merchant reimburse card-network and issuer chargeback processing fees. Late debts accrue inflation correction plus 1% a month and can be reported to a credit bureau (clause 3.6.1).

Pix, the payment link and selling online

The laranjinha terminals accept Pix by QR code and contactless, but only for merchants whose Pix key sits in an Itaú Empresas account. Rede's Pix page says clients who bank elsewhere cannot yet use it. Rede's FAQ says "Uma tarifa será cobrada por transação liquidada" (a fee is charged per settled transaction), collected by Itaú at the start of the next month. The amount is shown in the Rede portal, not on the public page. Pix money arrives instantly in the Itaú account.

Link de Pagamento Rede lets you sell remotely by sending a link over WhatsApp, social media or email. Rede says it has no monthly fee or sign-up cost, accepts credit cards (single payment or up to 12 interest-free instalments) and Pix, and includes free anti-fraud screening. The FAQ is blunt that screening reduces fraud but does not eliminate it, and that if a buyer disputes a purchase "o custo será do seu estabelecimento" (the cost falls on your business). For integrated e-commerce Rede offers the e.Rede API, which it pitches at "grandes e médios lojistas" (large and medium merchants). It supports 3DS 2.0, network tokenisation, pre-authorisation, zero-dollar card checks, instalments up to 12 and digital wallets. Separately, Rede sells Maxipago, a multi-acquirer gateway with recurring billing, retries, anti-fraud integrations and Pix and boleto. Online rates are quoted per account like the in-person ones.

Getting paid: settlement and prepayment

The current contract says "O prazo normal para liquidação é de até 32 dias contados da Transação" (the normal settlement period is up to 32 days from the transaction), unless you and Rede agree a different term (clause 5.1). Money goes to the bank account you nominate. In Brazil card sales are traditionally paid on a deferred schedule, and the faster options are sold as prepayment (antecipação). Rede can cancel a prepayment arrangement or an agreed faster term, with prior notice, if it sees your credit risk deteriorate, for example a credit-bureau listing, late payments elsewhere or debt out of line with revenue (clauses 5.10 and 5.11). Rede's 2019 Flex regulation, which is still listed on its documents page, illustrates this. It offered single-payment credit sales in 2 business days with no prepayment fee to merchants with up to R$30 million in annual card revenue who had contracted the Flex product. Merchants paid in up to 31 days had to opt in by phone. E-commerce and keyed sales were excluded. We could not confirm that this offer still runs on the same terms, so treat it as history rather than a current price.

The current prepayment products are:

• Antecipação avulsa (one-off): choose how much to prepay in the portal. Requests made by 15h45 are credited the same day, and requests up to 18h50 on the next business day. Instalment sales of up to 21 payments can be prepaid.
• Antecipação Automática: switched on once by phone. It pays all future credit sales, single-payment and interest-free instalments of up to 21 payments, in 1 business day. Rede says the fee is calculated as under Flex, from a factor for single-payment sales plus a second factor for each instalment.
• Crediário: an issuer instalment-credit option in which the card issuer finances the shopper, often over 24 payments and up to 48 with some issuers. Rede says the merchant is paid within two business days with no prepayment fee, for one rate quoted in the portal.
• Rede says prepayment carries no IOF financial-transactions tax. Fees for every prepayment product are quoted per account.

Contract terms, holds and termination

We read Rede's standard accreditation contract (Contrato de Credenciamento e Adesão de Estabelecimentos ao Sistema Rede), the file linked from Rede's documents page as of 1 November 2026. It is a restructured text that replaces the 29 August 2023 version archived in 2024; the PDF is dated 30 September 2026 and does not state an effective date. Clause numbers below refer to this version. Its time-bound terms:

• Term: indefinite, from the moment you are able to transact (clauses 2.5 and 13.1).
• Termination without cause: either party, at any time, on at least 15 days' prior notice, with no indemnity, charge or penalty beyond pending obligations (clause 14.1).
• Termination for cause: immediate, for either party, for breach, insolvency or recovery proceedings, refusing a contract change, loss of a required licence or a change of control to a Rede competitor. Rede may also terminate immediately for irregular or suspected-fraud transactions, illegal or "indesejáveis" (undesirable) activities, prolonged inactivity, processing third parties' sales without disclosure, or chargeback ratios it or the card brands consider high once a period it sets for explanations has passed (clause 14.2).
• Percentage-rate changes: 15 days' notice (clause 3.5).
• Contract changes: Rede may change the contract at any time. You have 10 days from the date the notice is sent to terminate; otherwise the change is deemed accepted, though you may still leave later on normal notice (clauses 15.1 to 15.3).
• Settlement: up to 32 days from the transaction unless a different term is agreed (clauses 5.1 and 5.7).
• Refunds (cancellations): credit sales within 90 days and debit within 7 days of the sale (clause 9.2).
• Chargebacks: you must send legible copies of documents proving the sale within 14 days of Rede's request, or the sale may go unpaid or be debited (clause 9.1).
• Bank-account changes take effect within 10 business days of your request, and are not allowed while your receivables are pledged as collateral (clauses 4.7 and 4.8).
• After termination Rede may withhold amounts owed to you until you have met all your obligations, including returning its equipment (clause 14.3).
• Audits: Rede may inspect your premises on 5 business days' notice (clause 17.1).
• Disputes go to the courts of the merchant's domicile (clause 19.1).

The block-and-retain clause is the one to understand. Under clause 4.11 the merchant fiduciarily assigns the net value of its card sales to Rede to secure its obligations. Rede may block or retain those receivables if it sees illiquidity, insolvency, recovery proceedings, a pre-bankruptcy state, a change in chargeback or cancellation volumes, the business closing, or any other sign of difficulty meeting obligations. Clause 4.13 limits this: "O Bloqueio ou a Retenção serão compatíveis com o risco efetivamente incorrido pela Rede e informado ao Estabelecimento" (the block or retention will be compatible with the risk actually incurred by Rede and communicated to the merchant). No fixed duration is set. Rede may also offset debts against your receivables at any acquirer (clause 3.6). Terminals are rented, never sold. Even after a set number of rental instalments has been paid, they remain Rede's property on loan (clauses 6.7 and 6.8). The contract's opening summary says it creates no exclusivity, so you may contract other acquirers alongside Rede.

Support

Rede advertises 24-hour support every day of the week, by phone on 4001 4433 in state capitals and metropolitan areas and 0800 728 4433 elsewhere, plus WhatsApp on (11) 4001 4433 and chat for logged-in clients. Technical assistance and the terminal's data chip come at no extra cost, according to the product pages. Rede says a new laranjinha arrives within two business days of contracting, subject to stock. An ombudsman (ouvidoria) on 0800 720 0060 handles unresolved complaints.

Reputation and complaints

On Reclame Aqui, Brazil's main complaints site, Rede held the top RA1000 reputation every month from May to September 2026. For complaints filed from 1 April to 30 September 2026 the site shows 493 complaints, 99% answered and 91.9% resolved, and 76.8% of reviewers saying they would do business with Rede again. The average consumer score was 7.88 and the average response time 18 days and 22 hours. The largest problem category over three years is cobrança indevida (improper charges), at 23.82% of complaints. The most recent complaints we saw described rental still being charged after the merchant had cancelled or stopped using a terminal, a dispute over a promised prepayment term, and payment-link funds held. Rede does not appear to have a Trustpilot profile; trustpilot.com/review/userede.com.br returned not found.

Regulatory record

Rede has a significant record with CADE, Brazil's competition authority. In July 2014 CADE homologated a cease-and-desist agreement (TCC) under which Redecard paid R$7.45 million. The case, which followed complaints from the Brazilian Internet Association (ABRANET), concerned Redecard's treatment of online payment facilitators; CADE had stopped the conduct with a preventive measure in 2009. In July 2018 Itaú Unibanco and Redecard signed a second TCC in an inquiry opened in March 2016 into receivables prepayment, bank-domicile locks (trava de domicílio bancário), alleged retaliation and tying. They agreed to pay R$21 million, which CADE called the largest nominal contribution it had collected in a unilateral-conduct TCC at the inquiry stage. A third case was opened by CADE's General Superintendence in October 2019, with a preventive measure, over Rede's offer of 2-day settlement to merchants banking at Itaú while others were paid in 30 days. According to press reports in December 2025, CADE's tribunal closed it by majority without any penalty, so it is not listed as an action against Rede. Separately, Itaú's 2025 reference form records a federal tax assessment against Redecard, about R$7.4 billion at March 2026 values, over goodwill from the 2012 tender offer. CARF's Superior Chamber cancelled it in full. The form dates that ruling both 4 November 2024 and 4 November 2025 and says formal notification was still awaited; the tax press reported it in April 2026. This tax dispute has no bearing on merchants.

These cases mostly concern how a bank-owned acquirer uses its link to the bank. That is the same bundling a merchant meets today, through rental waivers and Pix at the terminal tied to an Itaú account, although CADE did not find the 2019 policy unlawful.

Who Rede suits

Rede makes most sense for a Brazilian small or mid-size business that already banks with Itaú, or is happy to move its receipts there. Such a merchant gets waived terminal rental at moderate volumes, Pix on the same terminal, same-day prepayment and a free business account above R$20,000 a month, from an acquirer that signs with you directly and lets you leave on 15 days' notice. It suits a merchant who expects to negotiate. It is a poorer fit if you want to compare published rates online before talking to anyone, will not bank with Itaú, or want to own your terminal. Rede does not advertise any specialist programme for high-risk merchants, and its contract lets it end the relationship immediately over chargeback ratios it considers high.