The Brazilian payments landscape : Regulation, recent developments, and challenges

This paper explores the evolution of the Brazilian retail payments market, focusing on the regulatory framework, recent developments and emerging trends. Prior to 2013, the legal mandate of the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) as regards payment service providers (PSPs) was limited to financial institutions. However, the implementation of Law no. 12,865/2013 brought powers to regulate, supervise and oversee not only payment schemes and their managers, but also payment institutions (ie non-financial firms offering payment services). Key initiatives in this realm include the development of Pix, an instant payment scheme managed by BCB, and the Open Finance ecosystem, which, among other features, facilitates payments through standardised application programming interfaces. This paper discusses how the BCB’s innovation agenda aims to boost efficiency, promote competition and deepen financial inclusion. It highlights the significant shift from cash and cheques towards electronic payment instruments, driven by the expansion of card acceptance and innovations like Pix. It also describes how the market has been further transformed by the entry of non-financial PSPs and the expansion of digital wallets. The paper concludes that while substantial progress has been made, there are still challenges to address, such as high interchange fees and the need for further digital and financial inclusion. The future of the Brazilian payments market is expected to be increasingly digital, with continued regulatory efforts and market innovations driving further advancements. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.