Pix is an instant online payment method in Brazil. Today you are going to learn everything you need to know about it to be up to speed with Brazil’s current most popular payment method that is chargeback free. Check it out!
What is Pix?
Pix is an online instant payment method that is essentially a transfer facilitated by QR code (A Brazilian version of Zelle but much better and more widely used).
It was created by Brazil’s Central Bank as a tool to facilitate transactions by smartphone.
Pix can be used for any kind of transaction that includes transfers and payments. Since it’s online, it can be done at any time and the transaction is instant.
Pix is also way cheaper (and faster) than other debit and transfer options such as Ted and Doc, being mostly free depending on your Bank account.
Another advantage is that Pix can be made from any kind of bank account: business, personal, savings or payment accounts.
The whole idea about Pix is to make transfers easy, fast, safe and easily traceable.
Since its creation, Pix has dominated Brazil as the number one option for consumers.
Especially now that some banks are offering Pix payments in installments, like PicPay.
Pix is also very popular with businesses in general since they are easy and instant, what makes it less of an issue for small businesses that had to process payments by credit card machines.
Compared to credit card machines that are expensive to rent in Brazil and include transaction fees, Pix can be done by smartphone, directly and with zero fees.
How does Pix work, step by step
A Pix Payment can be made person-to-person or person-to-business and vice versa. The interface is almost identical between banks and it works basically like this:
- The receiver sets up the amount and send to the client as code on their banking app (QR code or text code);
- The banking app of the clients reads said code and automatically sets up the transfer details;
- The client confirms the Payment information, inputs their password and it’s done!
The money instantly goes from client to seller.
There are other ways to charge by Pix. You can just keep a QR code with your account information next to your clerk and ask for a transfer.
In that case you don’t need to send the code or set the amount. The client just gets the bill, reads the QR code and inputs the amount on the transfer. The clerk then checks on his banking app if the transfer was completed.
Some Payment Terminals can also generate Pix QR codes. That makes it even easier for a business to accept Pix Payments.
There are also ways for a business in the US to charge clients in Brazil by Pix. You’ll see how that works in the following chapters.
Why you should accept Pix Payments
Companies in the US have some catching up to do if they want to sell their products to Brazilians locally.
More than 120 million transactions are made by Pix everyday in Brazil and it’s already the most common way of transfer in the country.
That’s because Pix is reliable, it’s fast and it’s mostly free.
If you want to make business in Brazil, you should be looking for solutions that allow you to accept payments by Pix.
Spoiler alert, we are gonna show you how you can do that in the next session – feel free to skip to that part.
Any online store in Brazil now can offer payment by pix directly on their shopping cart.
Since Pix is instant, the money can be transferred to your account in the USA way faster.
It’s also safer than credit cards since the debit must be made directly from the customer’s bank account.
Considering other local payment options like boleto, Ted and Doc, Pix is the best by a long shot.
Now let’s compare Pix to Credit Card Payments!
Installments on Pix, PicPay and Nupay
Businesses in the US who charge Brazilians by credit card, should really consider offering Pix Payments.
One of the major reasons why is because Pix Payments cannot suffer chargebacks. Which is important due to fraud prevention.
Then, there is the issue of availability. Most Braziians do not own international credit cards, and the ones who do get pretty spicy fees and taxes on their purchases (5,38% on IOF taxes alone).
Until recently, Pix Payments were just debit transfers, but that changed since Nubank, PicPay and some other fintechs started offering Pix Installments.
Now, customers in Brazil can pay by Pix and finance their payments directly through their bank into up to 24 installments.
The nature of the transaction didn’t change, you still get the full value of the transfer with no risk of chargeback, but now your customer can divide said payments into installments financing directly with their bank.
That’s a big change and it can be cost effective, especially if we compare international credit card fees and taxes with the interest on Pix financing.
How to get paid by Pix locally from the USA
You don’t need a brazilian bank account or even a brazilian branch to accept payments by Pix.
You can actually create a Pix QR code and have the Pix Payment travel from Brazil directly to your bank account in the US. For that, you’ll need CambioCheckout.
There your company will have access to our platform that is going to connect your bank account to our local payment system in Brazil.
You can either send your invoices manually with a payment link, or integrate your online store with our API.
After that your client will be transferred to the CambioCheckout shopping cart where he will be charged the price of the purchase in dollars.
The value will be calculated from USD to Brazilian reais (BRL) and then your customer can use PIX to pay.
Once the payment is made in Brazil, we’ll make sure that the full price of the purchase in USD is transferred to your bank account in the USA.
The process usually takes one day for Pix payments and it’s completely free of charge for your company.
All fees and taxes are passed on to your final customer and you have zero risk of chargeback.
As we mentioned before, Pix are way cheaper than credit card payments. For example, comparing IOF taxes, an international credit card charge would be 5.38% vs 0.38% on Pix.
We can also compare international credit card interests to Pix financing. Since Pix financing depends on the bank and the credit score of the customer, we should be able to confirm if Pix Instalments are a cheaper option on a case by case basis.
Also, you don’t have to worry about your customer payment support, since we offer fully Brazilian Portuguese support for any issues on the payment along the way.
Pix stands out as a superior payment method for engaging with the Brazilian market, offering significant advantages over traditional credit cards and other local payment options.
Its instant transactions, immunity to chargebacks, and potential for installment payments make it an essential tool for businesses looking to expand their presence in Brazil.
