Brazil to expand Pix instant-pay system abroad

Brazil’s central bank is weighing an overseas expansion of its Pix instant-payments system and has signed information-sharing agreements with 65 foreign central banks to explore international connections. The regulator is discussing bilateral links and participation in multilateral trading hubs to integrate Pix with other cross-border payment systems.

Pix is a real-time payments platform that enables instant transfers via banking apps and free person-to-person payments. The central bank reported Pix transactions rose 25.7% in 2025 from the previous year to nearly 80 billion operations, with transaction volumes exceeding $6.87 trillion. Merchants and consumers widely use Pix as an alternative to card payments in Brazil.

The central bank referenced the possibility of using Pix for cross-border payments in earlier reports. Its latest management report expands on that, noting ongoing talks about bilateral connections and multilateral trading hubs and formalizing information sharing with 65 other central banks to support those discussions.

The potential international push comes amid friction with the United States. A senior U.S. administration official said he was not asking Brazil to “get rid of Pix” but wanted to avoid a scenario in which “Pix gets special treatment simply because it’s owned and operated by the government.” A U.S. trade department memo warned Pix “may undermine the competitiveness of US companies engaged in digital trade and electronic payment services.” Brazilian officials have countered that U.S. scrutiny aims to protect U.S. card networks and payment providers.

The central bank has accelerated plans to promote Pix abroad in response to rising domestic use and interest from other countries. Exporting the platform could involve technical links to other instant payment systems, participation in regional payment hubs or bilateral arrangements that allow users in different countries to transact using Pix rails. The bank has not provided a detailed timeline for implementation.

In discussions with other central banks, officials will focus on interoperability, regulatory alignment and data-sharing arrangements needed to support cross-border transactions.