Imagine two workers. The first wakes up at 7 a.m., takes the subway, has lunch at a restaurant near the office, and by 7 p.m. is at the gym. The second wakes up at 4 in the morning, takes three buses to get to work by 9 a.m. and, when someone offers them a gym discount, laughs pragmatically: "The commute to work is already exercise enough." For the first, well-being might be a multi-benefit card with health, culture, and mobility wallets. For the second, well-being is more urgent: it's making sure food is on the table by the end of the month.
Does that sound like a contradiction? For Mariana Cerone, CMO of Up Brasil, that is exactly where the most important conversation a company can have with its employees — and with the HR team that cares for them — begins.
"When you bring the Up ecosystem to your company, our well-being consultant will understand the reality of your workers, the diversity within your HR challenges, and will build together with you what will truly work to bring that sense of well-being to your team."
A cooperative with 60 years of history and a Brazilian soul
Up Brasil did not start from scratch — it is the Brazilian subsidiary of the Up Group — UpCoop —, a French cooperative founded in 1964, now present in 25 countries and considered the third largest corporate benefits group in the world. Being a cooperative, its growth followed a different logic from traditional multinationals: before coming to Brazil, the group consolidated its presence in Europe, where it is now the market leader.
Its entry into Brazil 10 years ago came through the merger of three consolidated regional companies: Policard, from the Triângulo Mineiro region; ValeMais, from Espírito Santo; and PlanVale, from São Paulo. Three histories, three cultures, one purpose. The result is a company with roots in different Brazilian realities — and that, more than a founding fact, is a real competitive advantage in a continental country where the consumption behavior of a worker in Uberlândia can be completely different from that of an employee in São Paulo.
Well-being is not synonymous with the gym
What is well-being, after all? Up listened to its three main audiences — HR clients, workers, and partner establishments — before answering. The conclusion was clear: well-being has as many forms as there are worker profiles in Brazil. For an employee at a publicly traded company, it might be a card that allows access to a gym and health services. For the building doorman earning minimum wage, it is more urgent: it's having certainty that food and transportation will be covered.
A concrete case illustrates this logic well. A facilities company suffered from chronic absenteeism at the end of the month: workers simply didn't show up. The investigation revealed the cause — the benefit balance had run out and, without funds for transportation or food, not showing up was the only option. The solution required no new product. Up proposed splitting the monthly balance into five weekly disbursements. Absenteeism dropped. The worker reorganized their finances. The company breathed easier.
"We were giving that worker a better quality of life while, at the same time, solving the HR team's pain. Because working with people involves a high level of complexity."
The ecosystem in numbers and wallets
When Up Brasil talks about an ecosystem, it is not a figure of speech. The company starts with traditional meal and food cards — regulated by the Worker Food Program (PAT), which in 2026 turns 50 years old and is undergoing its most profound historical modernization — and builds on that foundation an architecture of solutions that cuts across very different dimensions of a worker's life.
This is how UpLivit was created — Brazil's first well-being card. With a Mastercard flag, it consolidates up to ten benefit wallets in one place — food, meals, health, mobility, home office, culture, recognition and free balance — and puts in the hands of HR the decision about which ones to activate. It is in that choice that the benefit stops being a line in the employment contract and starts to reveal who the company is. "The benefit you grant your workers says a lot about who you are as an employer," says Mariana.
But the ecosystem goes beyond the UpLivit card. Up operates with fleet and fuel solutions, payroll credit for the public sector, Up Mais — a rewards program designed to make benefits last through the end of the month —, Up Vale Compras, a cashback platform with partner stores, and Up Agiliza, an app for recharging São Paulo's integrated transit card that surpassed 1 million transactions in three months. Rounding out the offering are more than 15 certified partners, including WellHub, and a dedicated front for mental health. "Brazil is breaking records for leave due to mental health issues. There is a real problem in the way we work, and we understand there is a lot of space to contribute to that," says the organization's marketing director.
What does your benefit say about your company?
That is the question Up Brasil poses to the market. Not "what benefit do you offer," but what it reveals about who you are as an employer. When well-being stops being a compliance item and becomes a cultural asset, it starts to impact metrics that truly matter: engagement, retention, team health, real productivity. And the market is noticing — not only in research, but in the day-to-day life of companies.