Pix app, launched in late 2020, keeps growing in popularity and already accounts for 27% of all Brazil cash transfers
(Bloomberg) — Brazilians are letting go of plastic cards and increasingly showing their mobile phones when shopping, as an instant payment app created by the central bank grows in popularity.
Cash transfers made through the so-called Pix platform surpassed credit card payments for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2021 and have continued to grow since, according to central bank data published Tuesday.
In the second quarter of this year, more than 5.4 billion transactions were made through the platform that was launched two years ago, compared with nearly 4 billion for credit cards and 3.8 billion for debit cards.
The Pix app allows anyone with a bank account to instantaneously send and receive Brazilian reais through a system that’s free and relatively easy to navigate.
It is particularly important for small business owners who can cash their profits immediately, without having to wait for days until credit card purchases get cleared. Street vendors displaying QR codes directing customers to their Pix numbers have become a quite common scene in cities across Brazil.
Read More: 110 Million Are Using Central Bank’s Mobile Money System
More than 127 million Brazilians now subscribe to Pix by providing either their mobile phone number, an email address, a tax id or even a random key.
More than 10 million companies also use the platform. The central bank says the system was the main driver behind a 40% annual growth in the overall number of transactions done last year. Mobile phones, used by many either because of Pix or banking apps, became the main instrument to complete purchases, responding for 60% of all payments made last year.
Pix became so popular that it was also thrown into an unexpected political battle this year, as President Jair Bolsonaro claimed it as one of his achievements during the presidential campaign.
Central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto later explained the idea to develop such a system was long part of the innovation agenda sponsored by the now autonomous monetary authority.
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