Pix payments happen in 24/7 real-time, are free, and supported by the Central Bank of Brazil
"Launched in late 2020, Pix quickly became Brazil's most used payment method, sharply eroding the share of cash, cards, checks, bank slips and other forms of payment in Latin America's largest economy. By cutting out intermediaries, Pix has squeezed revenue from card networks such as Visa and Mastercard, card processors including Cielo, StoneCo, PagBank and Getnet, and banks that once charged more for traditional transfers."
This system is very much like the PayShap system in South Africa, but a big difference is in South Africa the banks are often charging nearly normal banking rates for using the system, which has stifled its adoption.
In the Brazil the opposite is true, where the norm is cost-free, or very close to it with other banks.
I understand there is a Big Power which is not happy about this as they see this as stifling their business, but surely the world is about innovation and cutting costs through increased competition. It is not about banning something competing with you, but rather to embrace change and evolve with the times for the benefit of citizens and consumers. In many 3rd world countries such a system also increases safety when cash need not be carried.
Viewed another way, when we pay with cash, those are direct transactions without a middle-person (just VAT being added sometimes). This system really replaces cash.
Some quotes from the EBANX site below show over 70% of all Brazilians use Pix as their preferred payment method, making it more popular than credit cards, and merchants that integrated Pix through EBANX saw a 16% increase in revenue and acquired 25% more new customers.
It is probably time for the banking system to be overhauled a bit, not only to reduce costs, but also to improve flexibility. This is not going to replace banks yet, but it is up to banks to really start competing more now.
See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pix_(payment_system)" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.ebanx.com/en/online-payment-methods/pix-payment/ and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pix_(payment_system)
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