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April 26, 2023
On the wires
InComm Payments Expands Brazil Operations with New Technology Development Hub
PR Newswire
April 14, 2023
On the web
Central Bank’s Pix Gains Ground Against Debit Cards in Online Shopping
Valor International
March 31, 2023
On the web
Brazil Meal Payments Overhaul Delayed by Central Bank Standoff
Reuters
March 6, 2023
On the wires
Brazil Announces Pilot for Digital Currency Seeking to Leverage Financial Services
PR Newswire
March 3, 2023
On the wires
Brazil Central Bank Greenlights Meta's WhatsApp Merchant Payment System
Reuters
December 23, 2022
On the web
Brazil Legalizes Crypto Payments, ‘Setting the Stage for Greater Bitcoin Adoption’
Cryptonews
“The President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro signed a bill making bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptoassets a legal and regulated payment option in the country – and this move, an expert says, “sets the stage for greater bitcoin adoption.” Bolsonaro signed a bill into law that established the country’s official and complete framework for the trading and use of “virtual currencies” in Brazil, per the federal government’s official journal. The bill, previously approved by Congress, was signed on Wednesday and published on Thursday.”
December 14, 2022
On the wires
Brazil Central Bank to Launch its Digital Currency in 2024
Reuters
“Brazil’s central bank aims to launch its digital currency in 2024 after a closed pilot program next year with financial institutions, bank president Roberto Campos Neto said on Tuesday, adding that the project had received international attention. Speaking at an event hosted by the news website Poder 360, Campos Neto said the design of the central bank’s digital currency would encourage banks to tokenize their assets, with considerable efficiency gains.”
November 30, 2022
On the web
Brazil Approves Bill Regulating Use of Bitcoin as Payment
Bitcoin Magazine
“Brazilian lawmakers have approved a complete regulatory framework for the trading and use of cryptocurrencies in the country. Voted on Tuesday evening in Brasilia, the country’s capital, the new rules recognize bitcoin as a digital representation of value that can be used as a means of payment and as an investment asset in the South American nation. The bill applies broadly to a sector which it calls “virtual assets,” and now only needs the President’s signature before it becomes law. It does not make bitcoin or any cryptocurrency a legal tender in the country. The bill tasks the executive branch with selecting government bodies to oversee the market. The expectation is that the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) will be in charge when bitcoin is used as payment, while the country’s securities and exchange commission (CVM) will be the watchdog when it is used as an investment asset. Both the BCB and the CVM, along with the federal tax authority (RFB), helped lawmakers craft the overhaul legislation.”
November 16, 2022
On the web
Brazilian Central Bank Will Make Pix Open Source
Central Banking
“The Central Bank of Brazil will make the communications protocols behind its Pix payment system open source, governor Roberto Campos Neto said on November 11. Speaking to the CFA Society, Campos Neto said the central bank would make the protocols public this month, “so that all central banks that wish to can copy [them], for free”.”
October 26, 2022
On the web
Santander Bank Trials Blockchain Platform for Used Cars in Brazil
Cointelegraph
“Major global bank Santander continues exploring the benefits of blockchain technology, with a local branch implementing blockchain technolog for vehicle trading and car registration. Santander Brasil has launched thetesting of a blockchain-based tokenization platform for transferring ownership of used cars in Brazil, Cointelegraph Brasil reported on Oct. 19. The platform is designed to automate the process of transferring property registration by deploying smart contracts based on a delivery versus payment, a settlement method guaranteeing the ownership transfer after successful payment. Santander’s latest vehicle registration solution is developed in partnership with Parfin, major digital custody and Web3 infrastructure provider in Latin America. According to Parfin co-founder and chief technology officer Alex Buelau, the platform will be based on a proprietary blockchain network developed from the Ethereum blockchain. But in contrast to Ethereum, the system’s blockchain will be permissioned or private, meaning that it will not be publicly accessible.”
October 10, 2022
On the web
Digital Payment Methods Are Brazil’s Newest Export
Global Finance Magazine
“After taking their domestic market by storm, digital payment offerings are on track to become one of Brazil’s leading technology exports. The country’s originals, Pix and Ebanx, could soon hit markets as diverse as Canada, Colombia and Nigeria—with many others on the horizon. Promoting mainly end-to-end person-to-person (P2P) and business-to-customer (B2C) solutions, digital payment methods have gained incredible popularity in Brazil since the pandemic. “Pix and Ebanx put Brazil at the forefront of payment methods and money movement,” says Ana Zucato, co-founder and CEO of Noh. Two years after hitting the market in November 2020, central bank-created Pix has become the country’s primary vehicle of financial transactions. Currently, the tool has roughly 131.8 million single-user accounts, of which 9 million are businesses and 122 million are citizens (about 58% of the country’s population).”
September 27, 2022
On the web
Brazil’s Central Bank Caps Prepaid Card Interchange Fees; Fintech Stocks Fall
Reuters
“Brazil’s central bank on Monday said it would set a 0.7% limit for interchange fees for prepaid cards, which are offered by fintechs in free digital accounts, in a setback for the booming sector in Latin America’s largest economy. The central bank had put the issue out for public consultation last year, but its proposal suggested a maximum rate of 0.5% for both debit and prepaid cards, which would be even more damaging to fintechs. Banks’ debit card interchange fees, which currently have to comply with a joint weighted average calculation of 0.5% and maximum value per transaction of 0.8%, will now be capped only by 0.5% per transaction. An interchange fee is a charge a merchant pays to the card-issuing bank every time a consumer swipes their card. The changes will take effect from April 2023, and will also standardize the settlement term for debit and prepaid card transactions.”
August 16, 2022
On the web
Brazil’s Central Bank Chief Predicts End of Credit Cards
Reuters
“Brazil’s central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto on Friday said he believes credit cards will cease to exist soon due to the growth of the open finance system, through which clients authorize financial data sharing with different institutions. Open finance is a central bank project that has been implemented in phases since 2021…Speaking at an event about cryptocurrencies, Campos Neto projected that, through the system, users will control all aspects of their financial life in one “integrator” on their mobile, rather than having many apps from different banks. This will allow the development of cash management products for individuals and users to choose between making payments with the Pix instant payment system by debit or credit, he added. “This system eliminates the need to have a credit card. I think that credit cards will cease to exist at some point soon,” said Campos Neto, noting that banks have already started using Pix to offer credit.”
August 12, 2022
On the web
Brazil Banks Do Not Lose Money With Pix, Says Central Bank
Reuters
“Brazil’s central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto said on Thursday it is not true that banks lose money with the Pix instant payment system, launched by policymakers in late 2020. Speaking at an event hosted by Brazil’s banking lobby group Febraban, he acknowledged Pix affected revenues to some degree, since in the past banks charged people for transfer fees, while Pix is free. On the other hand, it offers new services, increases the volume of transactions and reduces cash costs for banks, said Campos Neto. The platform, which is owned by Brazil’s central bank, has been a huge success in the country and winner of international plaudits. It recently surpassed the volume of credit and debit card transactions in the country.”
August 8, 2022
On the web
Pix is Now Second Payment Type in e-Commerce (Brazil)
Valor International
“The use of Pix in Brazil’s major online stores has again reached an all-time high level, and now the instant-payment system created by the Central Bank shares with boleto, a banking bar-coded bill for cash payments, the second position among the most available payment methods in e-commerce, according to Gmattos’s most recent payment study. The analysis shows that credit cards remain at the top of the ranking, but there have been important changes, with fewer sellers willing to offer 12 interest-free installment plans. In July, 78% of the analyzed stores offered the option of payment via Pix, compared with 16.9% in early 2021, when the survey was first conducted. The percentage is the same when boletos are analyzed. Credit cards are accepted by 98.3% of retailers. The study considered 59 online stores, which account for 85% of e-commerce in the country.”
June 6, 2022
On the web
Brazilians Are Adopting Digital Payments Faster Than Anyone Else — What Lessons Can We Learn?
World Economic Forum
“Digital payments are driving a profound change in Brazil’s banking sector. Over the past 10 years, a silent revolution in Brazil has led to increased competition, more financial inclusion and lower banking fees…Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, around 16 million people have been enfranchised into the Brazilian financial system. In fact, the increased migration to online services during this period means 85% of Brazilians now have access to financial services.”
May 26, 2022
On the web
Crypto Is Now Accepted By One Of Brazil’s Leading Real Estate Companies
Bitcoinist.com
“Leading Brazilian real estate developer Gafisa has begun accepting crypto for property sales. According to Gafisa’s backrooms, bitcoin is ideal for real estate development businesses since it eliminates middlemen, a frequent practice in the property development market. The company’s decision to accept bitcoin was based on the technology’s ability to generate new prospects for innovation in the financial sector, according to a news release. The company announced that it accepts cryptocurrencies through the local exchange Foxbit…In addition to Bitcoin, Gafisa accepts various additional virtual currencies, including Cardano, Ethereum, $XRP and Solana. The company accepts payments in a total of 16 different cryptocurrencies.”
Stellar Joins Hands with Mercado Brazil to Develop CBDC for Central Bank of Brazil
forbesindia
“One of the largest crypto exchanges in Latin America, Mercado Bitcoin and the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), have joined hands to explore use cases and develop a minimum viable product (MVP) for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by the Central Bank of Brazil (Bacen). The announcement of the partnership was made with regards to one of the nine projects under the LIFT Challenge Real Digital. The challenge is being promoted by the Central Bank of Brazil.The exchange, whose parent company 2TM was recently acquired by Coinbase, is again creating headlines for its partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation to find and develop an MVP for Digital Real–Brazil’s CBDC. Brazil has been much ahead in the race for crypto adoption for quite some time now. Its central bank has partnered with over nine crypto projects, including Aave, Visa, ConsenSys, Microsoft, Santander Brasil Bank, and Itau Unibanco Bank, to meet its CBDC goals.”
May 19, 2022
On the web
Brazilians Are Adopting Digital Payments Faster Than Anyone Else — What Lessons Can We Learn?
World Economic Forum
“Digital payments are driving a profound change in Brazil’s banking sector. Over the past 10 years, a silent revolution in Brazil has led to increased competition, more financial inclusion and lower banking fees. The explosion of digital payments in Brazil has created an innovative financial ecosystem that works for ordinary people. This progress is the result of a combination of an overhaul in the payments regulatory framework, intensive use of technology, entrepreneurship and a focus on creating products that address the needs of Brazilian customers.”
April 27, 2022
On the web
Brazil’s Pix Instant Payments Accelerate Financial Inclusion as an “Instant Economy” Rapidly Rises in Latin America, Per EBANX Beyond Borders Data
PRWeb
“In a region where about half the population still doesn’t have a bank account, new payment types are unlocking the potential of the Latin American market for online merchants as the open banking movement matures there, according to a new Beyond Borders data analysis released by EBANX, the leading payments platform in Latin America that connects global companies to Latin America’s consumers. Methods such as Pix instant payments and digital wallets have paved the way to a major shift to digital commerce for Latin Americans with an increase of close to 50 percent more e-commerce users last year compared to pre-pandemic years (68% at the end of 2021 vs. 45% prior to the pandemic). This means that more than 150 million people bought online for the first time during the last two years.”
April 20, 2022
On the web
Meta suffers setback with WhatsApp business payments in Brazil
Financial Times
“Meta’s long-awaited plan to allow users to send money to businesses via messaging app WhatsApp in Brazil has been hit by clashes with potential payments partners, marking the latest blow to the tech giant’s sprawling ecommerce ambitions. WhatsApp had aimed to launch a payments-to-merchant (p2m) function in Latin America’s most populous country late last year, according to several people familiar with the project, in what would have been a world-first for the encrypted messaging app.”
March 30, 2022
On the web
Pix Beats Cards in Transactions for First Time
valorinternational
“The number of transactions through Pix surpassed those with credit or debit cards in the fourth quarter. It was the first time that the Central Bank’s instant-payment system took the first position among the most used payment methods.”
March 23, 2022
On the web
Brazil’s Pix ‘much Cheaper’ Than Card Payments, Paper by Central Bank Economists Shows
Reuters
“Brazil’s Pix retail instant payment system is “much cheaper” than card payments for merchants, according to a paper published Wednesday by the umbrella body of the world’s central banks, highlighting its growth potential for businesses after its vertiginous rise among individuals. The paper, which was co-authored by economists at the Brazilian central bank for the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), says Pix costs an average of 0.22% of a transaction’s value for merchants, whereas debit cards cost slightly above 1% and credit cards reach 2.2% in Brazil.”
November 24, 2021
On the web
Brazil’s Nubank Enters E-commerce With a Marketplace Within Its App
LABS English
“While many retailers are looking to offer financial services, the reverse is also true: fintechs are also moving towards e-commerce. The reason lies in the quest for retention and recurrence. In other words: it is not enough to have a digital account, the user has to engage. With this in mind, Nubank announced this Tuesday the launch of a shopping section with different shops, also marking the digital bank’s entry into e-commerce. The move is similar to the one recently made by another digital bank, Inter, which this year launched the InterShop marketplace within the app.”
October 29, 2021
On the web
Third Phase of Open Banking Goes Live in Brazil | ZDNet
ZDNet
“The third phase of the Open Banking initiative in Brazil goes live today (October 29), introducing services such as Pix, the country’s instant payment system…The current phase aims to enable the introduction of new environments for making payments and, subsequently, new dynamics for credit operations. After instant payments , other capabilities to be introduced under the third phase will include services such as transfers between accounts of the same institution, direct debits and credit proposals.”
October 19, 2021
On the web
Cybersource and Ebanx Partner in Brazil for Global E-commerce Merchants
Finextra Research
“Cybersource, a Visa solution, and Ebanx, global payments fintech company that specializes in Latin America, announced a new partnership for payments in Brazil. From now on, Cybersource’s clients around the world will be able to access EBANX’s payment solutions for Brazil, and offer their customers in the country the ability to pay online for products and services with local payment methods, including domestic debit cards, credit cards and installments.”
October 12, 2021
On the web
Most Brazilians Hesitate to Share Data Under Open Banking, Study Finds | ZDNet
ZDNet
“According to a new study, the majority of Brazilian consumers still feel uncertain about sharing their banking data in exchange for better deals and benefits such as personalized offers under the open banking model. Open banking — a practice that allows third party financial services firms to access consumer banking, transactional and other data from through, and other data with their consent through application programming interfaces (APIs) — is being introduced in Brazil through a phased approach.“
October 11, 2021
On the web
Central Bank Postpones Open Banking Governance Definition to 2022
LABS English
“The Central Bank (BC) postponed to June of 2022 the deadline for open banking participants to define their definitive governance structure. The announcement was made on Wednesday (6). The initial deadline was the 25th of this month, and the extension, according to the autarchy, was due to changes in the schedule of the initial phases of open banking implementation in the country — and also due to the increase in its scope, with the inclusion of products such as investments and insurance.”
October 6, 2021
On the web
Brazil’s Central Bank Built a Mobile Payment System With 110 Million Users
Bloomberg
“Pix, a system which allows fast money transfers over smartphones, has become ubiquitous in the 11 months since it was launched by Brazil’s central bank. All that’s needed to send cash to someone is a simple key they’ve set up, such as an email address or phone number. Similar to the privately owned Zelle in the U.S., Pix works through multiple apps from banks and other digital wallet services. It’s already been used at least once by 110 million Brazilians and about $89 billion has moved through the network. Brazil now registers more instant transfers than the U.S.”
September 7, 2021
On the web
Express Kidnappings in Brazil’s São Paulo Accelerate With Instant Pay App
InSight Crime
“The increasing use of an instant money transfer app is driving express kidnappings in the Brazilian city of São Paulo – a crime that now requires no more than a password and a push of a button to rob victims of large sums. In an interview with BBC News Brazil, Tarcio Severo, an official with the anti-kidnapping unit of the São Paulo police, said law enforcement has seen a rise in express kidnappings in which victims are forced to transfer money via Pix, an instant payment system created by Brazil’s central bank that was launched in November of last year.”
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