Brazil’s real-time payments system, Pix, has significantly impacted the country’s economy, and there are valuable lessons that North American banks can learn from its success. The immediate availability of funds, smooth cash flow, and low costs for individuals, businesses, and bankers have created a multiplier effect that is hard to ignore
Owned by Banco Do Brasil, Pix provides a seamless payment experience for individuals and businesses. Individuals can easily make purchases by scanning a QR code with any banking app, while merchants receive payments directly without intermediaries.
PIX MAKES REAL-TIME RECORD
Pix has achieved remarkable milestones, with a record-breaking 224.2 million transactions in a single day on July 5, 2024, surpassing its previous record of 206.8 million on May 7, 2024. This popularity has revolutionized the digital payment landscape in Brazil and posed a challenge to card payments, particularly in the thriving e-commerce sector.
“With Banco do Brasil’s continuous efforts to enhance Pix, we can expect the introduction of new features to increase its appeal further and solidify its position as the preferred payment method,” said Odilon Almeida, Managing Principal, AJ Holdings. “Pix’s success offers valuable insights into leveraging the power of real-time payments to drive innovation and shape the future of banking in the United States”, added Odilon AJ.
From these learnings, banks of all sizes can take several real-time actions, said Odilon AJ.
REAL-TIME LEARNINGS
- Embrace innovation: Explore new payment solutions beyond traditional methods to meet evolving customer needs and stay competitive.
- Prioritize user experience: Develop intuitive and user-friendly payment systems that make transactions seamless and hassle-free for customers.
- Reduce costs: Streamline payment processes by minimizing intermediaries and unnecessary fees, benefiting both merchants and consumers.
- Collaborate with technology providers: Foster partnerships to leverage technology and create innovative payment solutions that enhance the overall payment experience.
- Disrupt traditional infrastructure: Challenge the status quo by transforming existing payment infrastructure to meet the growing demand for digital and real-time payments.
ACI WORLDWIDE: PRIME TIME FOR REAL-TIME
According to ACI Worldwide’s Prime Time for Real-Time Report, which tracks real-time payments, Brazil experienced a remarkable year-on-year growth of 77.9% in 2023, with 37.4 billion real-time payment transactions. This highlights the immense potential and benefits of embracing real-time payment systems.