> Pix has spiced up Brazil’s fusty banking sector, but it gives the central bank a worrying amount of power
Economist what you think central bank does exactly that this is somehow too far?
Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant
311–320 of 789 posts
Re: Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant
#312Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'm thinking, maybe controversially, centralized national payment service like this should be government-run based on my experience with Alipay which is a digital payment service in China. After dealing with many private sector services, I think a lot of things should be government run. For instance: weather apps. Private sector ones are just a vector to track and sell your location data, and they rely on governmen…
I believe in Germany the national weather service in fact rolled out such an app, but was then stopped by a court because this counted as unfair competition with private entities.
> stopped by a court because this counted as unfair competition with private entities
I came across this recently as well. This is one of the most insane aspects of our current zeitgeist.
In a world where VC unicorns and megacorps commonly engage in dumping behavior to coerce market share, public orgs still need to walk on eggshells so they don't outcompete the "uwu smol bean" private sector. Even when they are providing what could be considered a public good or necessity, like weather info. Totally insane.
Re: Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant
#313Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why? Your own government can do a whole lot more to you than a foreign corporation.
Well, I can vote so that the thing my government does to me is something I want. The foreign corporation will always be exclusively interested in doing things to me that generate revenue for them.
> Well, I can vote so that the thing my government does to me is something I want.
You better hope that your interests closely align with those of millions of your compatriots.
And that no one with political power has a personal vendetta against you.
Re: Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant
#314Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you elaborate on the technicals? Is it a phone app? Does it work through QR codes or NFC? Is there a Pix "card"?
You use your bank's phone app. You can scan a QR code or you can send money to someone if you know their "id string", like a phone number, an email or a random string of numbers - you choose the "id string" format you want, and you can have different "ids" linked to different bank accounts. There are no physical cards.
What happens if you miss-type the email or phone number when making a payment? Is there any confirmation of the persons name?
Re: Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant
#315None of these systems is global yet. We still have to get a physical card with a magnet, then enter the number of this card and its date of issue and another 3 digit number to the google wallet in order to pay with our phone . And now when i buy a sex toy, everyone including a girl in VISA, my bank, google , my tax service, they all have to know.
Re: Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant
#316WhatsApp is omnipresent for communication in Brazil, and WhatsApp Pay was ready before Pix, but the government blocked the launch to launch Pix first.[1] I rarely see this mentioned. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/brazil-suspends-w...
It's a question of national security not to let Meta eat that cake, and Brasil made the right choice. Tangentially related, I've heard talk of EU alternative to VISA and Mastercard, which I also believe is the right direction.
i hate this expansion of national security justification and securitization rhetoric - whether it is the US justifying tariffs or deportation or Brazilians justifying no fair play under the law or trying to jail presidential candidates.
Re: Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant
#317I've been living in Brazil for the last 20 years. Pix revolutionised the way we transact in Brazil. I've used Pix to pay for things that cost only cents, and I have a friend who bought her house using Pix. The system just works for any transfer amount. And it's so easy to use. Its speed is truly baffling, and so is its reliability. Never have I failed to make a Pix payment because of downtime. I never cease to be ama…
What about tax evading people? Is the system used to tax audit people?
Re: Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant
#318WhatsApp is omnipresent for communication in Brazil, and WhatsApp Pay was ready before Pix, but the government blocked the launch to launch Pix first.[1] I rarely see this mentioned. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/brazil-suspends-w...
This is presented as problematic, but I don’t think it’s a negative thing. You wouldn’t want a foreign company with billions of dollars in their war chest in charge of your countries payment system.
actually, foreign capital and foreign investment is good - and fair play before the law facilitates that.
securitization and anti-globalization makes us all poorer, worse off, and more prone to conflict. lawfare is an addictive drug and can lead to serious outcomes, as history in Brazil shows any number of times - like even with the current president.
Re: Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
While I agree cryptocurrencies don't stand a chance, my experience with qr systems has been a mixed bag. The country I live in has a fairly good qr code payment system. But there was one day when the largest bank went down and that was chaos (cash very much has a role to play). We also supposedly have linkage with India's UPI. Unfortunately, it was impossible for me to actually use that linkage thanks to the way upi…
QR codes are problematic. First of all, you can’t really verify it with your naked eye. It can take you to a fake site that looks just like the original. Using phone numbers is vastly superior.
QR codes carry data. It might be a URL or it might not.
Re: Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant
#320Earlier quoted context omitted.
A major point of crypto is based on tracking as the ledger (blockchain) is completely public.
The identity of the user is secret. Others will just see a public key.
Only in theory right? The moment you use it with a service that requires credentials or an email or a physical address to mail to, it's not, unless you somehow wash it through an anonymous pool somehow