The Central Bank of Brazil has delayed adding a recurring payments feature to its popular instant payments system Pix, according to Reuters.
Following this decision, the “Pix Automatic” feature will now be available from next June rather than this October, as originally planned. This upgrade will significantly expand Pix’s scope as a payment method, with it already being the most popular means of transaction for Brazilian consumers by a huge margin.
Pix Automatic aims to facilitate recurring charges that let users authorise periodic debits automatically, without the need for authentication for each transaction. The bank predicts that the feature will also reduce costs.
Launched in 2020, Pix is used by most Brazilians every day and has taken the country by storm, being used more than debit and credit cards.
Growing Pix’s reach has been on the bank’s agenda. Earlier in the year, there were discussions around making Pix global, with reports that Italy could sign a bilateral agreement with Pix.
The postponement shows that the Central Bank’s plans for expanding Pix may not always go smoothly, and as outlined by Reuters also comes at a time of concern for the institution’s future among its leadership.
Recently, Roberto Campos Neto, Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil, called for the approval of a constitutional amendment to grant financial autonomy to the institution. Neto believes that the bank may face operational issues in the future due to budgetary constraints.
To the Governor’s dismay, a senate committee last week postponed the vote on the financial autonomy proposal and, it’s likely the vote will not be in favour of Neto. Many people are opposed to his view, including Brazil’s President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Therefore this postponement, coming against a backdrop of success for Pix in a short space of time, encapsulates Neto’s worries about future problems as it continues to grow.