Economy

Transactions in Brazil's instant payment system have a rejection of 6.5%; similar to that of bank transfers

PIX was launched last Monday; 75 million operations were already made since then

PIX, Brazil's instant payments system logo, on a smartphone screen. Photo: Shutterstock.

20.Nov.2020 14:20 BRT

Transactions via PIX can be made using keys, which are data such as the user’s cell phone number, taxpayer registry number (known by the acronym CPF in Portuguese), or e-mail. Users register the keys with institutions that offer payments or transfers via PIX;
Instant payment by PIX works 24 hours a day, every day of the year, at a significantly lower operating cost for institutions than that of modalities already consolidated in the market.

Brazil’s Central Bank President Roberto Campos Neto said that the rate of rejection of transactions in PIX, the country’s instant payments system that was launched last Monday, was between 6.5% and 6.7%, against 9% of the day before – a rate slightly higher than that of DOC, a type of bank transfer in the country. The statement was made during a virtual event organized on Wednesday by Itaú BBA, the research arm of the Brazilian bank Itaú Unibanco.

This rejection rate comes from the insertion of incorrect data for transactions, such as the wrong ID number, explained Campos Neto. Apart from problems of this nature, PIX settlements did not show instability or fall at any time. From Monday to Wednesday, more than 5.2 million transactions were made within PIX.

“In general, we have been surprised by the positive side in all ways (with the PIX). We understand that it is a process that will progress a lot in the coming days,” evaluated Campos Neto. “We understand that every system like this in the beginning, in this part of data gathering, it has some problems. This tends to improve as people register more keys, as businesses use more keys,” he added.

According to him, the rejection of transactions happens mainly with people who have not yet registered their keys since the need to insert information opens space for more errors. “For those who have a key, the process is much better, much faster,” he said.

Transactions via PIX can be made using keys, which are data such as the user’s cell phone number, taxpayer registry number (known by the acronym CPF in Portuguese), or e-mail. Users register the keys with institutions that offer payments or transfers via PIX. More than 75 million keys have already been registered.

Although the keys are not mandatory, the BC believes that they make transactions faster and are predominant. Without their use, users have to provide bank details, as is the case with bank transfers.

Instant payment by PIX works 24 hours a day, every day of the year, at a significantly lower operating cost for institutions than that of modalities already consolidated in the market, such as bank transfers and payments by credit cards and debit. According to the Brazilian Central Bank, the cost of PIX is 1 cent for 10 transactions.

Transactions from individuals to individuals are free of charge, provided they are made by electronic means. Nor can purchases made by citizens with PIX be charged. In return, banks will be able to tax PIX transactions between companies, both at the payer and recipient end.

Rising inflation

Participating in a public event for the third consecutive day, Campos Neto again reiterated this morning that the Central Bank considers that the factors that are pushing up inflation are passengers, stressing again that the monetary authority remains attentive.

“Much of what explains this increase in inflation are temporary factors, and which the Central Bank is monitoring,” he said.

He also repeated that the increase in inflation is being influenced by the rise of the dollar against the real, the influence of income transfer via emergency aid, and the substitution effect with social distance in the pandemic, as people have reversed spending that would go to services with food at home.