Brazil’s Pix Payment System Faces Pressure from Visa and Mastercard

In just over five years, Brazil has achieved what few countries have managed: establishing a digital payment system that not only competes directly with American giants Visa and Mastercard but has also surpassed them in transaction volume. However, this success has ignited a geopolitical and commercial battle that threatens to hinder this financial revolution. The administration of Donald Trump, influenced by credit card companies, has launched a commercial investigation into Pix, alleging anti-competitive practices, prompting Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to proclaim a nationwide campaign: “Pix is ours, my friend”.

El Ciudadano Team

A Financial Giant in Record Time

Pix is the instant payment system developed and managed by the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB). First announced in February 2019, the system officially began operating on October 5, 2020, and became fully functional by November 16, 2020. The name is a play on words combining “Pi” (for Pagamentos Instantâneos) and “Tix” (for Transações instantâneas X), reflecting its emphasis on speed, technology, and versatility.

How It Works

Pix enables real-time money transfers between bank accounts, available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, in just seconds. Users register “Pix keys,” which can be their phone number, email, national ID number (CPF or CNPJ), or a random key generated by the system .

The process is straightforward: the payer opens their bank application, selects Pix, enters the recipient’s key or scans a QR code, confirms using biometric authentication or a PIN, and the money is transferred instantly. Both parties receive real-time confirmation. The system operates through the Instant Payments System (SPI) of the Central Bank and is available at nearly all financial institutions in the country.

For individuals, the service is completely free; for businesses, the fees are significantly lower than those of credit cards (around 0.33% compared to the typical 2-5% charged by cards).

Figures That Speak Volumes

Pix has experienced explosive growth. In 2025, the system processed R$ 35.3 trillion (approximately $6.7 trillion), marking a 33.7% increase from the R$ 26.5 trillion of the previous year. In the last year alone, nearly 80 billion transactions took place, up from over 63 billion in 2024.

From its launch until September 2025, Pix handled 196.2 billion transactions, moving $16 trillion, an amount exceeding seven times Brazil’s annual GDP in 2024.

Currently, Pix boasts over 180 million users, with 162.8 million being individuals, representing approximately 93% of Brazil’s adult population. There are more than 617 million registered accounts and over 920 million active Pix keys. In total, 930 financial institutions participate in the system.

The daily record was set on June 6, 2025, with 276 million transactions in a single day, significantly surpassing the combined transaction volume of Visa and Mastercard in Brazil. According to Central Bank data, at the beginning of 2025, Pix was managing over 224 million daily transactions, far exceeding the total of both American giants combined.

Market Evolution of Payments in Brazil (2025):

Pix: 49% of financial transactions
Debit and Credit Cards: 14% each
Cash: 6% (compared to 83% recorded in 2021)

Visa and Mastercard Pressure: A Battle of Giants

The success of Pix has not gone unnoticed by American credit card multinationals. Since 2022, Mastercard Brazil’s CEO, Marcelo Tangioni, has voiced his concerns: “Pix is great, beneficial for the industry. What’s not great is that it falls under the Central Bank. It can’t regulate and compete at the same time”.

The reason is clear: Pix has significantly eroded Visa and Mastercard’s market share in Brazil. Estimates suggest that between 2021 and 2024, the system resulted in losses nearing R$ 12 billion (approximately R$ 6.5 billion for Visa and R$ 5.3 billion for Mastercard), due to much lower fees (0.33% vs. the average 2.3% charged by cards).

In September 2025, the Trump administration openly supported Visa and Mastercard, with the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) launching a formal investigation into Pix, claiming it creates an “unfair competitive disadvantage” for U.S. firms in the sector . A White House report from April 2026 once again highlighted Pix as a “detrimental system for global credit card companies”.

The Brazilian government responded firmly. President Lula stated: “No one will make us change Pix”, and launched a social media campaign with the slogan “Pix is ours, my friend”, adopting an explicitly nationalist tone. The Brazilian Federation of Banks defended the system, arguing it follows an “open model” available to all financial entities and that, by not being a commercial product, it “promotes competition”.

Recent Innovations and the Future of Pix

Far from stagnating, the Central Bank of Brazil continues to enhance Pix’s functionalities. Recent innovations include:

Automatic Pix: launched for recurring payments (subscriptions, bills), with a monthly increase of 41% in volume and 34% in the number of subscriptions in its first year.
Proximity Pix: enables payments without internet, using NFC technology.
International Pix: facilitates payments for Brazilian tourists abroad with real-time exchange rates.
Installment Pix: a feature that allows payments to be divided, directly competing with traditional credit options.

The Central Bank has also strengthened security with the Special Refund Mechanism (MED) 2.0, which allows tracking funds in cases of fraud, a measure mandated since February 2026.

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