The Trump administration has taken aim at one of Brazil’s most popular financial innovations. In July, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative opened an inquiry into PIX, the instant payment system launched by Brazil’s Central Bank in 2020 that has become nearly ubiquitous in the South American nation. The USTR alleges that PIX, which charges individuals no fees and companies only nominal transaction costs, unfairly competes with U.S.-based credit card networks such as Visa and Mastercard by bypassing the traditional interchange-fee model. The inquiry arrives even as PIX processes more than $7 trillion in annual transactions and is used by 178 million of Brazil’s 213 million residents for everything from cold drinks on the beach to car purchases.
PIX allows anyone with a Brazilian bank account and a taxpayer ID to transfer money instantly via smartphone. It also supports QR code payments, making it a versatile tool for street vendors, restaurants, and even large corporate payrolls. Marcello Palladini, who runs a restaurant in São Paulo, uses PIX to pay suppliers for goods above 1,000 reais (about $200) because many won’t accept credit cards for those amounts. “When I want something quickly, I pay with PIX and it comes right away. I also do PIX with some suppliers who keep a tab and at the end of the month they send me a full bill,” Palladini said.
“The best (payment method) is PIX, the most used,” said Luis Felipe de Almeida, 21, a vendor on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro. “No one walks around with cash anymore, everyone just uses their phone, so they use PIX.”
The USTR inquiry contends that PIX’s fee structure offers an unfair advantage. India’s Unified Payments Interface, a similarly government-backed system that processed $300 billion in payments in March, has not drawn any such challenge from Washington — an asymmetry that critics call selective enforcement. The Trump administration has not publicly explained why it is targeting Brazil’s network but not India’s.
PIX’s speed and reach have also attracted criminals. Brazil’s Public Security Forum estimates that between 24 million and 28 million people fell victim to PIX-related fraud between January and September of last year, mostly through phone theft and psychological manipulation. In response, Brazilian authorities and banks have imposed nighttime transfer caps and actively track suspicious accounts — measures that have not dented the system’s popularity. “From the technical and legal standpoint, PIX is safe. But it is not immune to fraud because its risks are not in its technology; they are in people trying to fool others,” said Ana Paula Siqueira, a specialist in Brazilian digital law.
“Love doesn’t happen suddenly, it takes time,” shouted Claudia Quirino, a vendor of Brazilian dumplings at a Pinheiros market. “But PIX is instant! Buy now!”