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Brazil central bank to launch Pix installment feature in September

reuters.com

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Re: Brazil central bank to launch Pix installment feature in September

#3
This is hands down one of the best instant payment platforms at the moment. Only India's UPI can match it in features, and China and Thailand in adoption. Most Western countries have had a (somewhat timid) taste of instant payments, but most don't know what it means to just drop credit and debit cards and cash altogether for a system that is not just universally adopted (from apps to flea markets to online payments and subscriptions), but preferred by merchants and consumers alike.

Obviously credit cards give you credit, if that's what you want/need, maybe a postponement until your monthly statement is closed, or chargebacks and maybe insurance, but CCs should be an exception, not the norm they are now, with a bunch of embedded costs we all pay for, one way or another.

Re: Brazil central bank to launch Pix installment feature in September

#4
Last week Trump targeted Pix and Brazil for discriminating against Mastercard and Visa[0]. Also last week there was the Steam debacle involving the same two companies which brought attention to the power that this duopoly holds all across the world. In Brazil many people, if not the majority use interest free instalments to pay for anything above groceries - “parcelas”, all of which, until now, were done through Mastercard & Visa. So this is yet another blow to these companies and perhaps accelerated by Trump’s threats.

It also highlights how desperately the EU is behind other countries in this space, with the news of the dependence on Azure and their aims to decouple from the US.

It’s a nice apt story for what’s being going on this last week.

[0] https://www.ft.com/content/e17e6de1-d863-46f8-bfab-fa8cbfc49...

Re: Brazil central bank to launch Pix installment feature in September

#5

Last week Trump targeted Pix and Brazil for discriminating against Mastercard and Visa[0]. Also last week there was the Steam debacle involving the same two companies which brought attention to the power that this duopoly holds all across the world. In Brazil many people, if not the majority use interest free instalments to pay for anything above groceries - “parcelas”, all of which, until now, were done through Mast…

Europe and the UK have instant SEPA credits and debits, no? That's 41 countries within the single instant payment system.

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/integration/retail/instant_pa...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area

https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/PYMNTS-Rea...

Re: Brazil central bank to launch Pix installment feature in September

#7

Last week Trump targeted Pix and Brazil for discriminating against Mastercard and Visa[0]. Also last week there was the Steam debacle involving the same two companies which brought attention to the power that this duopoly holds all across the world. In Brazil many people, if not the majority use interest free instalments to pay for anything above groceries - “parcelas”, all of which, until now, were done through Mast…

Europe and the UK have instant SEPA credits and debits, no? That's 41 countries within the single instant payment system. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/integration/retail/instant_pa... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/PYMNTS-Rea...

It’s crap in comparison. It’s not flexible at all. It’s still SEPA even though it’s “instant” and not all banks support it yet (although they are supposed to).

Re: Brazil central bank to launch Pix installment feature in September

#8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Europe and the UK have instant SEPA credits and debits, no? That's 41 countries within the single instant payment system. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/integration/retail/instant_pa... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/PYMNTS-Rea...

It’s crap in comparison. It’s not flexible at all. It’s still SEPA even though it’s “instant” and not all banks support it yet (although they are supposed to).

October 2025 is the deadline for all banks to support the instant part, and I don't understand your complaint that it's instant but "still SEPA." That's good! It's a utility that just works. You can always bolt trimmings on at the institutional level. What are your expectations for what it should be?

Re: Brazil central bank to launch Pix installment feature in September

#9
I believe the greatest story behind Brazil's Pix, India's UPI and Kenya's Mpesa is the emergence of a lot new forms of money.

We will have strong national currencies supported by these payment systems, destroying Visa and Mastercard and hurting PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay. These systems have a lot more potential than most people imagine (e.g.: micro lending , even for illiterate people).

We will have "gangster money", a.k.a. crypto currencies, to sustain illegal activities. There is no other use case for crypto, only this.

And we will probably have "economic blocs" money (e.g.: whatever thing the BRICS come up with).

In this scenario I'd hope for a big change in the international payments system.

The dollar will not have one rival, will have many. I hope it dies by a thousand cuts.

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