[REVISION HISTORY]

Digital payment adoption and Pix stability in Brazil

Updated 19 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-10-09 17:34 UTC → 2026-10-11 09:41 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Brazil is experiencing a significant decline in cash usage, driven largely by the widespread adoption of Pix, an instant-payment system. By 2025, cash accounted for only 12% of point-of-sale value in Brazil, the lowest share in Latin America. While the system has scaled to nearly 80 billion transactions, adoption remains uneven among the elderly due to concerns regarding digital scams. Recent regulatory updates from the Central Bank of Brazil, formalized through Resolution BCB 587 and Normative Instruction BCB 746, aim to enhance security and expand functionality. As of October 1, 2026, the R$ 500 transaction limit for contactless Pix payments via proximity (NFC) has been removed. Under these new rules, transaction limits for contactless methods, QR code transactions, and Open Finance operations are determined by the individual security settings and account profiles established by each financial institution. In September 2026, the number of registered Pix keys surpassed 1 billion, reaching 1.008 billion registrations. This milestone represents a growth of approximately 80 million keys since the end of 2025. With approximately 170 million users, this averages nearly six keys per customer. Of the total registrations, 956.7 million are linked to individuals and 51.2 million to businesses. Random keys are the most frequent identifier, accounting for 52.3% of registrations, followed by mobile numbers (16.5%), CPF numbers (15.4%), and email addresses (14.3%). During September, the Instant Payment System (SPI) processed 7.1 billion transactions, totaling R$ 3.2 ~~trillion.~~ trillion, averaging more than 230 million operations per day. Further evolutions include the introduction of ‘Parcelar Pix’ by CAIXA, allowing eligible customers to pay in installments. The system is also preparing for the launch of ‘Pix Automático’ on July 1, 2027, which will enable customers to authorize recurring payments for fixed expenses. Additionally, the Central Bank is regulating ‘hybrid billing’ and evaluating a project with the European Central Bank to connect Pix with the European Union's Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) infrastructure.

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