Pix is one of Brazil's main digital payment methods and quickly grew to prominence in the Latin American country. Experts see it as one of two success stories in instant payments - payments that are processed nearly instantaneously, often referred to as real-time payments or RTP - alongside UPI in India. Pix stands out due to its meteoric rise after its launch in November 2020: By mid-2023, the payment method boasted more than 150 million
. Transactions, consequently, grew as well. The
was 110 percent higher in 2022 than in the year before, nearly 11 trillion Brazilian reals - or roughly 2.1 trillion U.S. dollars. Registered users Pix in Brazil used the instant payment method almost twice as much in January 2023 compared to January 2022. The real-time payment option made up roughly 18
. Why is Pix growing so fast in Brazil? What lessons can other countries, in Latin America or elsewhere, draw from this?
A government tool for financial inclusion
Developed and owned by the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB), Pix is a centralized effort to promote digital payments among consumers in the country. The BCB is Pix' sole operator and rulebook owner, offering the system to consumers and merchants for free. Consequently, nearly nine out of 10
transactions in Pix were peer-to-peer (P2P) and P2B related in 2023. This low cost of entry is an important reason why
Brazil's share of the unbanked population - or those who did not have access to the services of a bank or similar financial organization - declined. Additionally, the system was mandatory to use in Brazil's COVID-19 relief funds. These factors combined created an environment for Pix to grow. That growth impacted cash use. Brazil's
share of cash was relatively low compared to other countries in Latin America by 2022, a process Pix accelerated even more.
Implications for RTP schemes in other countries
What lessons can other countries learn from Pix? Mexico's scheme Cobro Digital, or CoDi, is from the country's central bank, much like Pix.
User numbers of CoDi in Mexico, however, are far lower.
Cash plays a significant role in Mexican society, while not all financial players were involved with CoDi. The rollout of Pix may also impact the future introduction of Fednow for the United States in 2023. Pix's success, however, comes from its consumer integration, while U.S. consumers cannot access FedNow directly - only if their preferred financial institution opts in. The
market share of real-time payments in the U.S. is to remain low as Fednow mainly applies to interbank payments.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no
liability for the information given being complete or correct.
Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date
data than referenced in the text.
