Pix payments: How Brazil’s instant payment system rewrote the rules

Across Brazil, from street vendors to online marketplaces, the way people pay has undergone a seismic shift. At the centre of it all is a real-time, account-to-account (A2A) payment system called Pix. 

Launched by Brazil’s Central Bank in late 2020, Pix has upended traditional payment systems, with over 168 million users and 64 billion transactions processed in 2024 alone. The Pix payment method has become a global case study in real-time financial innovation, bypassing legacy rails entirely.

Put differently, while the West continues to flirt with A2A payments, Brazil has already gone all-in.

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What is Pix?

Pix is an instant payment system developed by the Banco Central do Brasil, enabling individuals and businesses to transfer funds directly from one account to another. No cards, no intermediaries, no delays.

Where many traditional payment systems rely on intermediaries and expensive infrastructure, Pix offers a direct alternative that’s free for individuals. Users can initiate transfers using QR codes, phone numbers, email addresses, or unique Pix keys to identify their accounts.

Since its 2020 launch, Pix has seen explosive adoption:

• Over 153 million individual users and more than 15 million companies
• 42 billion transactions processed in 2024
• 26 trillion BRL (around $4.6 trillion USD) in total payment volume in 2024
• By 2024, Pix accounted for 46% of all payment transactions in Brazil, eclipsing cash at 22%, debit cards at 17%, and credit cards at 12% 

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The benefits of Pix: fast, accessible, and transformative

Speed

Central to Pix’s power is its real-time processing, with transactions settling instantly at any time of day, on any day of the year. This immediacy eliminates the traditional settlement delays that previously tied up cash flow and created friction for consumers and merchants alike. 

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Ease of use

Whether paying with a QR code or selecting a contact from a smartphone, the user experience is intuitive and accessible, even for those with limited tech literacy. Ease of use is matched by ubiquity, with Pix functionality now embedded across nearly every banking and fintech app in Brazil.

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Social impact

Perhaps most significantly, Pix has empowered the country’s unbanked and underbanked populations to participate in the digital economy. All by enabling mobile-based payments with no credit card or bank account required. In doing so, it has bypassed legacy infrastructure and established itself as a driver of financial inclusion as well as an effective payment method.

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Combined, these factors help explain why Pix has achieved in three years what many digital payment systems have failed to accomplish in decades – to build a financial equalizer that revolutionizes how money moves in Brazil.

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How Pix changed payments in Brazil

Before Pix, Brazil’s payment ecosystem was fragmented and expensive, with consumers relying on cash, bank slips (boletos), or costly, intermediary-based digital methods. At the same time, interbank transfers were limited to business hours and often incurred steep fees.

But then Pix entered the conversation. Within months of its rollout, usage soared and by 2022, it had become Brazil’s preferred digital payment method, surpassing cards, slips, and cash.

It enabled:

• Faster peer-to-peer payments: Instantly paying friends, family, or service providers
• Efficient bill payment and collection: Replacing boletos with real-time confirmation
• Explosion in eCommerce and app-based purchases: Particularly in mobile-first segments
• Decline in ATM usage and cash handling: Reducing the operational burden for both banks and merchants
• Recurring, scheduled payments: Pix Automático marks a major step forward in the platform’s evolution from an instant transfer tool to a full-service financial infrastructure. Now, merchants and users can use Pix Automático for subscriptions, rent, school fees, and instalment-based purchases.

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For merchants, the effect was reduced payment friction and processing costs.

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Pix: A payments model for Latin America?

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Real-time payment systems like India’s UPI (Unified Payments Interface) have shown what’s possible with centralized, government-backed digital infrastructure. Pix follows a similar model, and the rest of Latin America is watching.

Colombia, Chile, and Argentina have all announced or launched initiatives to build their own instant A2A networks. Paraguay’s SIPAP and Mexico’s CoDi show early promise, but Pix is by far the most mature and widely adopted.

As cross-border trade and digital commerce continue to grow across LatAm, there’s speculation that future systems may even interconnect, creating a unified payment zone modelled on Pix’s success.

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What comes next for Pix?

The success of Pix hasn’t gone unnoticed by Brazil’s regulators. A series of new features are already in the pipeline, including:

• Pix Garantido: A credit-based version of Pix, enabling credit for users, backed by financial institutions.
• Cross-border Pix: Exploratory efforts are underway to enable instant payments across borders using the Pix framework.
• Offline Pix: Pilot programs aim to support transactions without internet access to further expand the system’s reach.

Should these developments embed Pix into everyday commerce more deeply, its cannibalization of traditional credit card usage could (apart from luxury or high-ticket transactions) become near total.

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Challenges and considerations for merchants

Despite its success, Pix isn’t without limitations. Though it includes robust built-in security features, such as instant confirmations and biometric access, fraud remains a concern.

The scale of Pix’s innovation, coupled with a lack of consumer education, creates new surface areas for fraudsters to exploit. Merchants can help reduce this risk and its associated consequences by creating their own educational resources for customers.

For international merchants, understanding the technical requirements, user behavior profiles, and the compliance landscape is essential but difficult. Navigating Brazil’s regulated models, such as eFX for cross-border settlements, adds a layer of complexity that may well require expert support.

However, the opportunities far outweigh the challenges. Merchants who integrate Pix can access a vast and growing user base, offering instant and seamless checkout to reduce cart abandonment.

In a country where almost 90% of the adult population now uses Pix, disregarding the platform is an option few are willing to take.

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How Boku enables merchants to harness Pix

Boku provides unified access to local payment methods, eliminating the need for merchants to manage complex technical integrations or navigate regulatory nuances. This includes support for both local and cross-border Pix settlements under Brazil’s eFX regulatory framework.

Our solution comprises one integration, along with multiple wallets and A2A systems, including Pix. There is no need for separate local contracts. Compliance support is also provided, enabling you to navigate regional regulations with confidence.

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A payment revolution merchants can’t ignore

At astonishing speed, Pix has become Brazil’s dominant local payment method and a model for successful account-to-account (A2A) innovation worldwide. Its convenience, affordability, and accessibility have fundamentally transformed how Brazilians engage with money, driving behavioral change across all demographics.

With new features like Pix Automático already live and others set to be released, the system’s capabilities and relevance to merchants are only set to grow. Those looking to succeed in the Brazilian marketplace need to integrate Pix into their payments strategies now.

Boku makes that possible by enabling seamless Pix acceptance through a single integration. With that one integration, you’ll gain access to one of the fastest-growing payment ecosystems on the planet. 

Get in touch to find out more. 

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