PIX Goes Global: New Features and Fraud Alerts

What new features is Brazil's Central Bank adding to PIX?

Brazil's Central Bank (BC) released its PIX management report on Monday (10 August), outlining both recent upgrades and a pipeline of future features for the country's real-time payment system, launched in 2020.

What has PIX already added?

The system has grown well beyond basic transfers. Current features already available to users include:

• PIX Cobrança – scheduled billing charges
• PIX Saque – cash withdrawals at participating retailers
• PIX Agendado – future-dated transfers
• PIX por Aproximação – contactless tap-to-pay

What is coming next for PIX?

The BC confirmed several developments in the pipeline:

• PIX Internacional – cross-border payments
• PIX em Garantia – using PIX as collateral for credit
• Cobrança Híbrida – hybrid billing
• Pagamento de Duplicatas – settling trade invoices
• Split Tributário – automatic tax splitting linked to Brazil's ongoing tax reform

Why is the description field being reviewed?

The BC says the free-text message field — originally meant for payment notes — has been misused to send offensive, threatening or intimidating messages, often attached to tiny-value transfers. A working group within the PIX Forum, involving payment-industry associations, is now studying how to stop the abuse without altering PIX's core functionality. The BC says it will introduce regulatory measures if the group's findings make them necessary.

How will fraud alerts become standardised?

Some institutions already show in-app fraud warnings at the moment a suspicious transfer is initiated. The BC is now working with the market to make this practice mandatory, setting minimum criteria for when alerts must be triggered and how they must be displayed to customers. Since October last year, a one-tap dispute button also lets users contest a transaction without needing to speak to a human agent.

How big is PIX today?

In 2025, PIX processed R$ 35.36 trillion in transfers — a new all-time record, up 33.6% from the R$ 26.46 trillion moved in 2024. The scale makes PIX one of the world's largest instant-payment networks, and it has attracted scrutiny from the Trump administration, which claims the system disadvantages American payment companies operating in Brazil.