6 out of 10 Brazilians have used Pix at least once

With only one year in operation, more than half of the adult Brazilian population has used Pix at least once. A survey released on Tuesday (16) by the Central Bank shows that 104.4 million people paid or received with the instant payment system, equivalent to 62.5%.

Pix, which turns one year old today, has already handled R$4 trillion since its launch and broke the record of 50 million transactions in a single day, on October 5th.

According to BC, adoption was faster among young people. People between 20 and 29 years old represent 34% of Pix users. Those aged between 30 and 39 are equivalent to 31%. Between 40 and 49 years, the percentage is 18% and drops to 8% in the 50-59 age group.

People over 60 years represent only 4% of users and under 19, 5%.

The survey also shows that 45.6 million people who were not TED (Electronic Transfer Available) now take Pix. Since launch, 33.9 million people have said they use Pix exclusively for transfers and 11.7 million have now used both (TED and Pix).

The new method of payment grew the most among low-income consumers. From March to October this year, the number of users in this range increased by 131%.

Taking into account all income groups, the increase was 52%.

“Another indication of financial inclusion is the average value of transfers, 60% of Pix are below R$ 100. This shows that it is used to carry out small transactions, which shows its inclusive nature”, stated the Director of Organization of the System Finance and Resolution, João Manoel Pinho de Mello.

The survey also showed that 7.9 million companies have already used Pix to receive or pay, the equivalent of 54.6% of companies with relationships in the financial system. “It is a very strong shipment for companies as well,” said Pinho de Mello.

Pix also represents 15.6% of transactions between people and companies.

In all, there are 348.1 million registered keys. A person can make up to 5 and a company up to 20. In practice, the user does not need to register a key to use Pix.

The mechanism serves to facilitate identification of the recipient. This way, whoever makes the payment or transfer does not need to enter all the data to send the resources, such as name, CPF and account.

The director pointed out that Pix should gain new features in the coming months, such as payment initiation with Pix, to buy in an online store without having to access the bank application, withdrawal and change in commerce, automatic debit, payment without internet (offline ) and international purchases.

BC president Roberto Campos Neto stated that reality exceeded the expectations that the municipality had for Pix.

“Our expectations were high and, today, reality has surpassed expectations. Pix has fallen in favor of Brazilians and its use intensifies month by month,” he celebrated.

For Campos Neto, the system still needs to undergo improvements to reach its full potential.

“Pix, despite having already reached an expressive use by the population, certainly has not yet reached its full potential. The use of the QR Code, for example, still depends on a better assimilation of the technology by the users”, he mentioned.

According to him, the use of payment with Pix in commerce can be better explored based on technological innovations.

“There is a universe of possibilities for new businesses and for more efficient implementation using transaction initiation, especially in electronic commerce”, he pointed out.

This Tuesday, Pix will have new security measures. The special return mechanism starts to apply today, which allows the bank to revert amounts to the payer’s account in cases of fraud or operational failure.

The return of funds can be requested either by the institution of the recipient or by the payer.

In addition, the possibility for the bank to retain a suspicious operation on Pix for up to 72 hours for analysis and the mandatory notification of infringement, which was previously optional, also come into effect this Tuesday.

The notification works as a mark on the Pix key made by the bank, on the user’s CPF or CNPJ and on the account number, when fraud is found. This information will be shared with other institutions whenever there is a consultation. With this, the BC hopes that the so-called orange accounts, which are rented or lent, can be identified.

After the launch of the new payment method in November of last year, crooks have taken advantage of Pix’s ease and speed to apply scams or to ask the victim to transfer large amounts quickly during robberies or kidnappings.

Criminals often use orange accounts to receive the money, in addition to spreading it to others, which makes it difficult for the police to track down the amounts and dismantle the gangs.

To increase security in operations with Pix, BC announced a series of changes in the payment system rules.

Pix accumulates 112.6 million users. According to BC, it was the instant payment system with the fastest adhesion in the world.

Since its launch, the success of the new payment method has been consolidated among individuals, who account for 93.4% of registered users today. Among companies, adherence was slower, with 7.4 million (6.57% of users).

According to the monetary authority, this is because traders need to adapt the systems to receive with Pix.