The rise of the Click-and-Mortar™ shopper in Brazil may give some tailwind to the use of Pix, the instant payment system that became operational in the country in late 2020.
The data tell the story as to the platform’s use:
As detailed by Brazil’s central bank, the number of Pix monthly transactions has been well over 4 billion, at 4.3 billion as March ended. That compares favorably to the 2.5 billion in March of last year.
The central bank’s information also notes that person-to-business transactions in March of this year were 192.5 million, up from 121 million a year ago. Initiation “types” also have seen a shift, as, for instance, dynamic QR codes were 1.4 million in March, up from less than half a million in March of last year.
As for the number of users, the bank noted that there were more than 152 million users last month, up from 138 million. 15.4 million companies had signed on and were using the service, up from 12.6 million last year.
All told, the Pix transactions outpaced debit and credit transactions by about 23% as noted by sites such as Reuters.
About 60% of Pix transactions were made by consumers younger than 40 years old.
The younger consumers, then, are among the prime movers of Pix’s gains against more traditional payment methods and channels.
And PYMNTS Intelligence data, as spotlighted in the “2024 Global Digital Shopping Index: Brazil Edition,” 48% of shoppers browse and buy across channels, while 38% of individuals are digitally-assisted in-store shoppers. No matter where or when they are shopping, 75% of respondents say a top feature valued in any setting is the ability to use their preferred payment methods.
Moreover, the Click-and-Mortar report found that the designation accounts for more than 46% of high-income shoppers and peaks for low-income shoppers, with 53% adopting digital shopping strategies. If a majority of shoppers want to transact digitally, and Pix has been used by roughly 80% of the population, it follows that a broad range of individuals across all manner of income levels and demographics would continue to move the needle on instant payments across a variety of use cases. Users do not need bank accounts to pay with Pix — and can, for example, opt for digital wallets.
The availability of Pix cross-border should also get some torque through digital and in-store shopping as Brazilian tourists move beyond the home front. As noted earlier this year, Brazilians traveling abroad in in neighboring countries like Argentina and Uruguay can already use Pix to pay for services like restaurants and hotels — and the instant payments system may be connected, more widely, to other instant payment schemes across the world, including in Europe and in Africa.
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