Brazil: In two years, Pix consolidates itself as the most used means of payment and transactions continue to rise in the country

This is a machine translation of Febraban's press release

Over two years of operation, Pix has consolidated itself as the most used means of payment by Brazilians, revealing the efficiency and great popular acceptance of the tool, which brought convenience and facilities to customers in their day-to-day financial transactions. From November 16, 2020, the date it started operating in the country, until the last September 30, there were 26 billion transactions made in the national financial system, with transacted amounts reaching R＄ 12.9 trillion.

Survey made by FEBRABAN based on Central Bank numbers show that in its first month of operation, Pix has already exceeded transactions made with DOC (Credit Document). In January 2021, it surpassed transactions with TED (Available Electronic Transfer). In March of the same year, it took the lead in the number of transactions made with bank slips. In the following month (May), Pix surpassed the sum of all of them.

With regard to cards, Pix overtook debit operations in January of this year, and in February it took the lead in credit card transactions, when it became the most widely used means of payment in Brazil.

“Transactions made with Pix continue to rise, revealing the great popular acceptance of the new means of payment, which brought convenience and facilities to customers in their daily financial transactions. In the last 12 months, we recorded a 94% increase in operations using the tool”, says Isaac Sidney, president of FEBRABAN.

“I also highlight that Pix was and continues to be a fundamental tool to boost banking and financial inclusion in the country and, since its launch, it has been an important opportunity for Brazil to reduce the need to use cash in transactions and the high costs of transporting and logistical banknotes, which total around R$ 10 billion a year”, he adds.

When analyzing the transacted values, the survey showed that in the last month of September, Pix reached BRL 1.02 trillion, with an average ticket of BRL 444, while TED, which totaled BRL 3.4 trillion, had an average ticket of BRL 40 .6 mil.

“The numbers show that the population is using Pix as a lower-value means of payment, for example, in transactions with self-employed professionals, and also for day-to-day purchases, which would be made with bills, as was predicted at the time of the tool launch. This causes the number of transactions to increase at an accelerated pace, bringing greater convenience to customers, who no longer need to carry bills for small transactions”, analyzes Leandro Vilain, executive director of Innovation, Products and Banking Services at FEBRABAN.

Also according to the survey, statistics for the last month of September show that almost half of Pix users are in the Southeast region of the country (43%), followed by the Northeast (26%), South (12%), North (10 %) and Midwest (95). Regarding users, 64% are between 20 and 39 years old.

Since Pix was launched, 523.2 million keys have been registered in the Central Bank's Directory of Transactional Account Identifiers. Random keys add up to 213.9 million, followed by keys by CPF (114.2 million), cell phone (108.3 million), e-mail (77.5 million). By October, 141.4 million Brazilians had already used Pix in their payments.

Safety

FEBRABAN and associated banks prioritize the safety of their customers and invest around R＄ 3 billion per year in cybersecurity to improve and make user financial transactions safer.

The Federation participates in the Pix Forum, promoted by the Central Bank, and contributes with suggestions to further improve the security of this means of payment. The entity monitors all market regulations and, in case of changes, will endeavor to implement them within the period established by the regulatory body.

Pix is a secure tool and all transactions take place through digitally signed messages that travel in encrypted form, on a protected network. The associated banks also have the latest in cybersecurity and fraud prevention, such as encrypted messaging, biometric authentication, tokenization, and use technologies such as big data, analytics and artificial intelligence in risk prevention processes. These processes are continuously improved, considering technological advances and changes in the risk environment.