Brazil, a trailblazer in instant payments, reported that its popular Pix platform facilitated transactions worth over 120.7% more this Black Friday compared to last year.
According to the latest data from Brazil’s Central Bank, Brazilians spent roughly 130 billion reais ($21.60 billion) using Pix this Black Friday, up from 58.9 billion reais last year. In addition to the value spike, the platform also saw a significant rise in volume—239.9 million transactions compared to 136.3 million the previous year. This year’s Black Friday also set a record for the most transactions in a single day.
“There is a lot of momentum around Pix in Brazil, and that’s largely because of the way the Brazilian Central Bank set it up,” said Don Apgar, Director of Merchant Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research. “The Central Bank launched Pix with three important boosts. First, it made it mandatory for all major banks to participate. Second, it standardized user experiences in all use cases, and, finally, there are no fees for either sender or receiver.”
Not a Holiday Phenomenon
These features undoubtedly fueled Pix’s surge this Black Friday, which is generally considered to be the beginning of the holiday shopping season. While the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year in many countries, Pix’s upswing isn’t simply a holiday phenomenon.
Since its launch four years ago, the platform has quickly gained popularity as a preferred payment method in Brazil. By next year, Pix is expected to surpass credit cards as the predominant payment method in the country.
The Market Picks the Winner
Instant payments are one of the most transformative innovations in the payments industry and are expected to continue gathering steam worldwide. However, the U.S. has taken a different approach to this emerging payment method, resulting in more tepid adoption.
“In the U.S., the Federal Reserve participates in payments, such as instant payments platform FedNow and wire transfers, but it doesn’t mandate participation,” Apgar said. “The U.S. prefers to have the market pick the winner, if you will.”
“Also, note that Pix is only available for funds you have in your bank account, there is no credit component,” he said. “In the U.S., a scheme like this would offset some debit card volume, but not be applicable to credit purchases, including alternative lending products like BNPL.”
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