Central Bank maintains pressure to increase competition with PIX.

The Central Bank has been maintaining the pace of measures to increase competition in the financial system and promises four new features for the PIX platform next year. For the first half of 2022, guaranteed PIX and automatic debit are expected to become operational.

The guaranteed PIX is like insurance for receiving payments via PIX, similar to what credit card companies offer. This new feature should be ready in the first half of 2022, according to the deputy head of the Competition and Financial Market Structure Department of the Central Bank, Carlos Eduardo Brandt.

Another innovation that will also stimulate competition in the first half of 2022 is automatic debit via PIX. According to Brandt, this feature is for recurring payments, but it's better than the current automatic debit because the payer and creditor don't have to be customers of the same bank.

For the second half of 2022, the Central Bank's agenda will include contactless or "tap and go" PIX payments and the payer's QR Code. Contactless payment is important for situations with high user traffic and low average payment amounts, such as public transportation, stadiums, and large public events.

The payer's QR code will make life easier for users when they are not connected and need to make a payment. Currently, PIX works with QR codes when both parties are connected.

In the second half of 2021, the option to withdraw cash via PIX will be available. This measure will break the limitations of the banks' own ATM networks and the Banco 24h network spread throughout the cities. In addition to offering users greater convenience in withdrawing money at any commercial establishment, banks will be able to serve customers of competitors. "The Central Bank wants to increase the volume of electronic transactions, but we are still in a transition period with many people who still need banknotes," comments Brandt. ( O Bastidor – Arnaldo Galvão)