Pix: Brazil's real-time bank transfer (a2a)
Brazil's instant account-to-account rail, operated by the Central Bank and used by nearly every adult in the country.
How the Pix flow works
Pix is an instant, 24/7 account-to-account payment rail operated directly by the Banco Central do Brasil (BCB). It settles in central bank money in seconds, not business days, and is available to any Brazilian bank, fintech or payment institution licensed to hold accounts.
At checkout the merchant's PSP generates a Pix charge — a static/dynamic QR, a copy-and-paste "Pix Copia e Cola" string, or a Pix key tied to the merchant. The consumer opens their banking app, scans or pastes, reviews the amount and payee, and authorises with biometrics or PIN.
Funds move through the BCB's SPI (Sistema de Pagamentos Instantâneos). The merchant's PSP receives a webhook confirming settlement within a few seconds and the order can be released immediately.
There is no card network in the middle, no issuer authorisation to decline, and no scheme interchange. The consumer authenticates directly with their own bank, which is why approval rates are high and the fraud vector differs from cards.
Typical use cases
- E-commerce checkout in Brazil where card decline rates or interchange erode margin.
- High-ticket purchases (electronics, travel, B2B) where cards hit issuer limits or trigger step-up.
- Marketplaces and platforms paying out to Brazilian sellers or creators.
- Bill pay, top-ups, remittances landing in Brazil, and recurring or on-demand flows where near-instant confirmation matters.
- In-person payments via dynamic QR at POS, delivery or field services.
Consumer reach
Available to every consumer with a Brazilian bank or fintech account — effectively the entire banked population, well over 150 million individuals plus tens of millions of businesses.
The default digital payment method in Brazil for P2P, bill pay and increasingly e-commerce, displacing both cash and a meaningful share of card volume.
Adoption spans every demographic and income bracket, including segments historically underserved by credit cards.
Who should accept Pix
- Any merchant selling to Brazilian consumers online or in-app — offering Pix is table stakes for a credible BR checkout.
- Merchants with high card decline rates in Brazil, high-ticket verticals, or thin margins where card interchange and FX compress unit economics.
- Cross-border merchants relying on international cards for BR buyers: Pix converts the long tail of card-declined or unbanked-credit buyers.
- Marketplaces, gig platforms and creator economies paying out to Brazilian recipients.
- Subscription businesses that can offer Pix as first-choice with card as fallback, or run Pix-first with tokenised recurring where supported.
Operational detail
The operational half of every method profile — settlement, refunds, disputes, PSP coverage and licensing — is reserved for Payment Methods List founding partners. It's the part vendor sites won't publish and the part that actually decides whether Pix works for your stack.
Settlement time
How fast Pix funds land after the payer confirms, behaviour outside scheme hours, whether the rail settles gross or net, and the realistic T+n to sweep to USD/EUR — plus the PSPs where the advertised timeline actually holds in Brazil.
Book a founding-partner call →Refund mechanics
How Pix refunds are executed end-to-end when the rail has no scheme-level reversal — payer-initiated pulls, credit transfers, or PSP-fronted refunds — plus partial-refund support, time limits, and the API surface each PSP exposes.
Book a founding-partner call →Chargeback exposure
Whether Pix has any dispute construct at all, which recall/return/indemnity vectors actually exist on the rail, how consumer-protection rules in Brazil route claims back to merchants, and observed loss rates versus cards.
Book a founding-partner call →PSP coverage matrix
Which acquirers and aggregators run direct rail connections to Pix vs. reselling a partner, coverage depth and reliability, effective pricing bands, and who to pick when Brazil volume is your primary use case.
Book a founding-partner call →KYC & licensing notes
Requirements to accept Pix — local entity vs. cross-border MoR, licensing regime governing the rail in Brazil, KYC obligations at onboarding and per-transaction, and FX/reporting rules for foreign merchants.
Book a founding-partner call →