Brazil Crime Uptick Could Result in Instant Payments Suspension

Citing the rise in crime, Brazilian lawmakers are mulling the possible halt of the Pix instant payments system, ZDNet reported.

The São Paulo Legislative Assembly is considering a bill that, if enacted, would bar banks and payment institutions from processing payments via Pix until the Central Bank of Brazil puts in place measures to ensure customer safety, according to the report.

The Brazilian central bank launched Pix on Nov. 16, 2020, to offer instant fund transfers between customers, businesses and governmental entities, according to the Central Bank of Brazil website.

Pix processes more than 1 billion transactions monthly for the platform’s more than 112 million users.

Read more: Bexs Banco-Thunes Collaboration Brings Real-Time Payments to Brazil

Should the Pix suspension move forward, it is not clear what impact it would have on a partnership announced this month. As part of the collaborative effort, global payments company Thunes has teamed with Brazil-based international digital payments platform Bexs Banco to enable real-time payments in Brazil. In conjunction with the arrangement, Pix users would receive instant payments and interoperability between Brazilian banks and FinTechs.

The central bank touts the Pix system as offering greater convenience, lower financial costs and bolstered security, in addition to the ease of real-time payments.

However, with that convenience comes higher incidences of crime, such as people being forced to make ransom payments to criminals, according to ZDNet.

The potential suspension of digital payments in Brazil comes at a time when Latin America is seeing an 80-fold demand for digital payment methods.

See more: Surging Debit Use Leads ‘Eighty-Fold’ Acceleration in LatAm Digital Payments

Propelled by the pandemic, more businesses in Latin America have implemented eCommerce payment options such as pay links, mobile apps, social media transfers, as well as digital wallets and QR codes.

Transaction value of digital commerce is expected to increase by 73% by 2025 for the region, with higher growth rates in select economies.