- A minimum period of 24 hours and a maximum period of 48 hours is being set for institutions to carry out requests made by customers to increase these transaction limits;
- Customers will also be able to set different day and night transactional limits on PIX.
This Friday, the Central Bank of Brazil released new security rules for PIX, the country’s instant payments system, launched in November 2020. The rules also apply to other means of payment, such as prepaid and debit cards and TEDs (as same-day transfers in the country are called). The main measure is the limit of BRL 1,000 for transactions between individuals between 8 pm to 6 am. Customers, however, can request an increase in these limits.
Also, during the night, financial institutions will not be able to host TEDs of different ownerships between individuals and micro-entrepreneurs (known by the acronym MEI), except for scheduled transfer orders.
A minimum period of 24 hours and a maximum period of 48 hours is also being set for institutions to carry out customer requests to increase these transaction limits. In addition, customers will also be able to set different day and night transactional limits on PIX.
The announcement follows a series of news reports on scams and frauds, including kidnappings, after the advent of the PIX, which allows instant transfers 24/7.
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According to the Central Bank, PIX participants will be able to hold a transaction for 30 minutes during the day or 1 hour at night for risk analysis, with due warning to the client. The autarchy also released a series of requirements for institutions regarding the marking in the Transactional Account Identifiers Directory (known as DICT) of suspicious accounts, seeking to increase consultation and access to these data to curb crimes.
In a press conference held this Friday afternoon, João Manoel Pinho de Mello, director of Financial System Organization and Resolution, said that none of the measures creates more bureaucracy for institutions or even discourages the adoption of electronic payments by Brazilians.
He said the average of suspected fraud transactions on PIX has been falling, from two per 100,000 in March 2021 to half a transaction per 100,000. Mello also pointed out that the BRL 1,000 limit was adopted because 90% of transactions via PIX are equal to or less than BRL 500. According to him, the changes will take effect “in the coming weeks.”
Translated and co-written by LABS
