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Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant

(www.economist.com)
666 points jcartw | 4 comments | 08 Apr 25 10:59 UTC | HN request time: 2.846s | source
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Galatians4_16 ◴[08 Apr 25 12:40 UTC] No.43621046[source]▶
Despite a global move towards a cashless society, 54% of Brazilians now opt for cash withdrawals.¹

2024 has seen a surprising reversal, as cash usage makes an unexpected comeback, defying predictions that the world was moving toward a cashless society. With rising cybersecurity threats, concerns over financial privacy, and economic instability, consumers and businesses are increasingly turning back to physical currency as a preferred transaction method.²

¹) https://www.riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/brazils-shift-bac...

²) https://www.adeptswipe.com/cash-makes-a-shocking-comeback-as...

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1. forinti ◴[08 Apr 25 13:43 UTC] No.43621708[source]▶
I keep a few bills in my wallet, but I hardly ever carry it around.

Everybody accepts cards and Pix. Even beggars on the street use pix.

If I revert back to using public transport I will probably have a use for cash, but that's the only situation I can think of where it would make sense.

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2. luqtas ◴[08 Apr 25 17:41 UTC] No.43624428[source]▶
most places i visited (remote rural places like districts of > 300 people up to big cities) have a rechargeable card system where you can buy at any terminal

some buses in the surburbs of big cities only accept cards nowadays and you can recharge it online in 3 minutes (ofc if you are a citizen... brazilian goverment websites is a huge UX pile of shit; police, mail etc.)

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3. forinti ◴[08 Apr 25 19:22 UTC] No.43625557[source]▶
These systems are all built to help the bus owners, not the passengers.

Usually you have to go register for a card somewhere. It's just not practical, especially if you're just visiting. I've never seen a place where you could buy a card at a newsstand for a week or something like that.

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4. luqtas ◴[08 Apr 25 22:41 UTC] No.43627181{3}[source]▶
if you are visiting a city and you are exclusively using the bus, in 2 or 3 travels the card pays itself for not dealing with coins and physical money... you can literally buy them in 5 minutes, no need to have a CPF exposed or whatever [they are called TOURIST CARDS for a reason]

around Paraty -> Angra dos Reis region you can literally visit/stop in more than 25 beach spots with the buses who circulate that area

and it's really nice that it helps the bus drivers. it even saves some time on embarking, which can add up in longer routes. godspeed on a single card (state agnostic) for the entire public transportation system (metro, bus, trains) in Brazil