Pix completes five years this Sunday (16) as the main payment method in the country. Launched by the Central Bank in November 2020, the digital payment method generated R$26.4 trillion last year. This is equivalent to almost twice Brazil’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024.
This year, according to the Central Bank, there were R$28 trillion in transactions via Pix until October.
The director of financial system organization and resolution at the Central Bank, Renato Gomes, assessed in an online broadcast that the platform included more people in the banking system.
“On the one hand, there was this reduction in the cost of distributing money. On the other hand, there was, let’s put it this way, this increase in the share of customers and customer consumption and, obviously, as Pix brought a lot of competition with the payment system, there ended up being a reduction in fees,” he said.
Pix was primarily created to facilitate transactions between people with instant transfers. Over time, new features were added. Like Pix, collection, which acts as a bill, and automatic Pix, which is equivalent to automatic debit.
Recent data shows that 170 million adults and more than 20 million companies use Pix.
National technology
Discussions to create the payment method that conquered the country officially began in 2016, with the fundamental requirements of the tool being launched in 2018 by the Central Bank. In August 2019, the BC announced that it developed the database and took over the administration of the instant payments system, which gained the name Pix in February 2020.
Pix was launched, on a test basis, on November 3, 2020, for a portion of between 1% and 5% of bank customers and at special times. The official launch, with 24-hour operation and for all customers who create Pix keys, only took place two weeks later, on November 16, 2020.
Trump’s target
In the context of the measures taken by the United States government as pressure against the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro for an attempted coup d’état after the 2022 elections, the payment method developed by Brazilian public servants became the target of a commercial investigation.
The Trump administration began the investigation by pointing out that Pix could harm American financial companies. In an official response sent to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Brazil stated that Pix aims to ensure the security of the financial system, without discriminating against foreign companies.
*With information from Agência Brasil.
