Live data from Hacker News

Brazil central bank to launch Pix installment feature in September

reuters.com

141–150 of 187 posts

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

#141
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Credit cards give me cashback, worldwide acceptance and peace of mind. The country I live in, Switzerland, has a very widely accepted QR-based payment system... but credit cards (in mobile wallets) are more convenient, safer, faster. The only time I use the QR codes is when a merchant doesn't have a card terminal.

Bear in mind that Brazil is a poor country. Cashback and worldwide acceptance is not what 90% brasillians need. You are right about convenience, but here, 1% fee makes a huge difference to make both ends meet. You can give alms with pix, to show how widespread pix is.

Brazil is actually a pretty rich country. It's just that the wealth is exceptionally highly concentrated at the top. Brazil has enormous resources and potential, but all that potential gets sucked up by the big boys in their club. Although I know what you mean, it's important to distinguish Brazil from a genuinely poor-all-over country where there is not much wealth anywhere. Even in poor or average neighbourhoods in the big cities, you can see a person with nothing and then another person drive by in a BMW.

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

#142
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It is just better in my experience. >You just scan a QR code and pay. Tap to pay (ie. NFC) with credit cards is as convenient and arguably more convenient than a QR code solution. At the very least you don't have to worry about aiming at the QR code and waiting for it to scan/focus, which is especially important if you're using it on transit systems.

Tap to pay leaves you at the mercy of all the usual bullshit credit card processors impose. What means that if you have a very normal behavior, yes, it's more convenient. If you deviate from the norm in any way, it's an unreliable piece of shit that will leave you hanging without money the moment you need it most. And as deviant people drop out of that system, the bar for deviance gets lower and lower.

>Tap to pay leaves you at the mercy of all the usual bullshit credit card processors impose.

1. "Tap to pay" refers to a technology, specifically NFC communications. Anyone can use it, not just "credit card processors". For instance, many transit agencies also use NFC for their passes/tickets, and those obviously aren't being intermediated by "credit card processors".

2. Any sort of centralized system will be susceptible to "all the usual bullshit credit card processors impose". At least with credit card companies there's theoretically a degree of independence from the government. A government run payments system, staffed by government appointed cronies would be even more susceptible to government pressure to block certain groups.

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

#143

When I first moved to LatAm, the cashiers always asked how many "cuotas" I wanted to pay. I was initially confused and realized it meant I could take a (interest free?) loan to pay for my purchases in installments. I never understood how this was common in high interest countries in LatAm, but unheard of in the USA. Does anyone know? Like actually know, not speculating.

It's interest-free for the customer because the interest was already bundled in the good's price.

It's risk-free for the retailers, as the full purchase amount is taken from the customer's credit card limit, but they will only receive the money in installments, unless they opt to receivables financing.

There are retailers that offer discounts if you purchase in one lump sum. Now recently some banks started giving discounts if you pay the installments in advance.

This is common in high interest countries as there is this whole financing industry that revolves around customer credit, and as the interest rates are high enough, there is lots of money to be made.

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

#144
post #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 a…

Russia has had a similar system for some time now.

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

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cash is king - but security is an issue unless you are dealing with small amounts.

I can buy and pay for an airline ticket online with pix, and not with cash

> online

You still can buy airline tickets with cash. Not online though.

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

#146
post #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 a…

It may be good, but what does the Brazilian law say[0]? In 2021, Brazil enacted Law No. 14.063, which governs the digitalization of public services. Its Article 16 is clear: “Information and communication systems developed exclusively by the public administration shall be governed by open-source licenses, allowing their unrestricted use, copying, modification, and distribution by all public agencies and entities.” In…

I don't think there's any legal exposure here. Article 16 of 14.063 gives an exception to code protected by Law 12.527/2011. Articles 22 and 23 seem to clearly allow for not releasing source code if that release risks the "financial, economic, or monetary" stability of the country.

Beyond that, Pix is so popular that I doubt a challenge would hold up in court. If it went to the STF, there's no way they wouldn't give Pix a carve out.

I'm as big a fan of open source as anyone else, but can we audit any other payment systems anywhere? Is that a reasonable expectation to have for payment systems?

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

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing with a credit card, is that when I buy something online, or it never gets delivered, or turns out to be crap, I can get the credit card company to reimburse me. And in person, if someone manages to copy it and fraud me, I can also get it resolved and have the credit card company pay me back. Do these instant payment system offer similar protections?

There's the small claims courts for that, strong consumer protection laws. Also some banks are offering insurance on trial basis already. But yeah, I prefer CC on international platforms, or if the cashback is higher than the discount they offer via Pix (5% to 20%). Lenovo offered me 20% on a Laptop recently through Pix. With the discount I paid a bit more on broader support, keep your disks, liquid damage protection…

And from someone who lived in Brazil. Small claims court fucking suck. A kafkian nightmare compared to a chargeback.

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

#149
post #10

In a sense, Trump's rant against Pix is promoting it to the world. Moreover, some stores in Portugal and more recently France are accepting Pix as form of payment.

It's not a small population. There's estimated 40k Brazilians in the Netherlands for example, most of them illegal. They need a payment system which doesn't require a European bank account.

PS: I don't think anyone is illegal, but the system push them out.

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

#150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Finland, I have to use Visa everywhere. Banks offer debit cards, but they use the Visa network. Some smaller sellers also accept Mobilepay, but its not very common.

> In Finland, I have to use Visa everywhere Why? Finland is in SEPA.

I have never seen a store offering any payment method called "SEPA". After reading up on it, it just looks like some protocol to do bank transfers between countries, and it requires exchanging IBAN numbers. I do pay rent and some bills via direct bank transfer, but that's it. Its nothing like this Brazilian payment alternative.
Post reply on HN