Accept instant 
payments in Brazil

Other ways consumers can pay in Brazil are:

Cards

At the end of 2023, credit card transactions surpassed the previous year by 12%, debit card payments increased by 5%, and prepaid card payments rose by 38%. But for merchants, cards come with high fees, the risk of chargebacks, and slow settlement times of 30 days for credit card payments. There’s also the task of juggling multiple acquirers to improve conversation rates and reduce costs.

Cash

Despite cash usage declining in Brazil, it remains a payment method for small-value in-person purchases. Cash comes at a cost to merchants though, with disadvantages including: banks charging for accepting cash and coins, a lack of fraud prevention for the business and customers, a heightened risk of loss and human error, and more paperwork to keep track of revenue.

Boleto

Boleto involves a virtual or printed ticket with a barcode issued by a bank, which contains customer information and payment details. It’s mainly used for online payments, monthly payments (e.g. school tuition) or B2B. Despite its unique advantages (e.g. a merchant being able to grant ownership of a future payable Boleto as credit collateral) and effort from the industry to speed up Boletos’ settlement and approval, payment confirmation can take up to 24 hours, while settlement can take up to three days - potentially causing disruption for a business.

Wire transfers

Wire transfers are costly and need to be timed right. Transferência Eletrônica Disponível (TED) transfers may have the advantage of arriving anywhere from within minutes to a few hours, but they can only be initiated during banking hours. Transfers with Documento de Ordem de Crédito (DOC), which was recently discontinued, would take up to two days to settle.

In contrast to the above methods, Pix payments transfer and settle in real time, and are less expensive as merchants pay lower fees per transaction compared to cards and wire transfers. Users simply need an account with a participating institution.

There are different types of Pix payments, each with different use cases. Examples of person-to-business (P2B) payments include online and in-store purchases, and paying bills and invoices. Other types of payments include B2P (e.g. a business playing freelancers), B2B (e.g. a business purchasing goods), and even government initiatives such as the collection of taxes and fees.

Only 38 institutions were required by the central bank to join the Pix ecosystem, but as of May 2024 Pix has over 825 bank and financial institution participants, with more in the process of joining.

The number of transactions is rapidly increasing month-on-month too, with over five billion transactions processed in May 2024 alone and peer-to-business payments closing in on peer-to-peer (over 1.8 billion vs. almost 2.3 billion).

Yes. Developed by the Central Bank of Brazil, payments are initiated from users’ bank accounts, which they access via the likes of a passcode or biometrics.

All Pix transfers are made and authorised through the Brazilian Financial System Network (RSFN), an encrypted data communication system completely separated from the internet and managed by the Central Bank. This makes all payments fully traceable, meaning any potentially fraudulent transactions can be traced back to the source.

Yes. If a Pix payment is approved, it is guaranteed that the money will be received as the funds are transferred and settled in real time.

If you’re a business looking to expand into Brazil, Volt serves as your payment gateway for Pix instant payments. With a single integration, you can accept real-time payments in several territories beyond Latam. You don't even need to set up a local entity in Brazil to operate there, since Volt acts as your merchant of record. You can accept Brazilian Real, wherever you are, and receive it in your chosen currency through our FX solution. 

After receiving the customer’s Pix payment, Volt will handle sending the money cross border to your local bank account via batch settlements once a week, and ensure all the transaction details can be viewed on your reconciliation reports.

Yes. Fuzebox, Volt’s merchant portal, enables you to initiate full or partial refunds - both domestic and cross-border - via API.

Pix is mobile friendly. The ‘Pix copia e cola’ option, where the shopper pastes the code they’re given into their banking app to confirm their payment, makes it easy to pay even when the QR code is shown on mobile.