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Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant

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666 points jcartw | 7 comments | 08 Apr 25 10:59 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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SwiftyBug ◴[08 Apr 25 11:48 UTC] No.43620583[source]▶
I've been living in Brazil for the last 20 years.

Pix revolutionised the way we transact in Brazil. I've used Pix to pay for things that cost only cents, and I have a friend who bought her house using Pix. The system just works for any transfer amount. And it's so easy to use.

Its speed is truly baffling, and so is its reliability. Never have I failed to make a Pix payment because of downtime. I never cease to be amazed by how fast money arrives in my Brazilian account when I make a withdrawal directly from my EUR wallet on Wise. I receive a push notification from my Brazilian bank before Wise finishes running the animation of confirmation of withdrawal. It's like magic.

And it's so widespread that nowadays I don't even question whether someone accepts Pix. When I get in a taxi, no matter how old the driver is, it's certain that they take (and prefer) Pix.

I've even had homeless people ask me for Pix instead of change on multiple occasions.

Cryptocurrencies don't stand a chance.

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oulipo ◴[08 Apr 25 11:55 UTC] No.43620630[source]▶
Interestig, but this is also worrying to know that the government now knows exactly what you bought, where, when, and for how much. They can also (if there's a rogue government) create fake transactions to implicate you in things you haven't done
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1. pearlsontheroad ◴[08 Apr 25 12:07 UTC] No.43620740[source]▶
Brazil has an insane level of financial fraud and tax evasion. Pix mitigates some of that, but at the cost of privacy - something that Brazilians do not care too much about.
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2. ryandrake ◴[08 Apr 25 12:12 UTC] No.43620785[source]▶
That’s a pretty sweeping generalization about 200M+ people!
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3. rafaquintanilha ◴[08 Apr 25 12:16 UTC] No.43620812[source]▶
But it's correct though
4. guax ◴[08 Apr 25 12:22 UTC] No.43620861[source]▶
Pix does not substantially changes the tax evasion problem as that is mostly a problem with higher earners and small/medium business who evade tax using cash payment, convoluted setups of companies and "laranjas" (our slang for someone borrowing the name to do something for someone else, the scapegoat) as well as "non cash" transactions.

Pix mostly replaces and eats on credit card transactions that were done for the convenience aspect and no the credit aspect. As well as allow a whole new part of the country to accept electronic payments, and although that would increase tax revenue from business it also substantially increase their revenue since there is no x% from card processors and don't require special rented/bought equipment.

5. skrebbel ◴[08 Apr 25 12:27 UTC] No.43620918[source]▶
A statistic isn't a generalization.
6. matheusmoreira ◴[08 Apr 25 18:07 UTC] No.43624739[source]▶
He's not wrong though. "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" is a popular saying here. People who lived under a military dictatorship not even half a century ago will actually utter those words.
7. lbschenkel ◴[09 Apr 25 16:15 UTC] No.43633768[source]▶
But is true. I am a Brazilian who lives in Sweden and there are multiple banks here that have blank bans on transfers from/to Brazilian banks due to the amount of fraud and money laundering and lax KYC controls. It is simply too much work for the banks here to vet those transactions and they decided just to refrain from doing it.