Pix has changed how payments work. Now, technology will change the financial system.
Pix has changed Brazilians' relationship with money. Since its launch in November 2020, it has ceased to be just an alternative to TED (bank transfer) and boleto (bank slip) and has become a central infrastructure of the financial system. In 2025, 30,1 billion transactions were carried out via Pix, a 20% increase compared to the previous year, according to data from Febraban (Brazilian Federation of Banks).
The scale of these numbers shows that Pix is no longer a novelty. It's part of the daily financial routine of Brazilians. And, precisely for that reason, I believe the next discussion shouldn't be about what will replace Pix, but about what will be built upon it.
Over the next five years, we will see a broader transformation of the financial system, marked by the convergence of instant payments, data sharing, artificial intelligence, digital assets, and new forms of credit. Money will continue to circulate, but in an increasingly faster, more integrated, and, in many cases, invisible way for the consumer.
As head of Pay4Fun, a Brazilian payment institution, I've been witnessing this transformation, especially in a market where Pix already occupies a central position. Today, Pix dominates the market. All transactions in the legal betting market are based on it. This demonstrates not only the strength of adoption of the system, but also how a payment infrastructure can become a fundamental part of different sectors of the economy.
The next step, therefore, is to ensure that this speed is accompanied by security, traceability, and integration. The Central Bank's own agenda points to a continuous evolution of Pix, with features such as contactless Pix, installment Pix, Pix as collateral, and the improvement of the Special Return Mechanism, known as MED 2.0.
Pix Automático should also expand the use of the system in recurring payments, such as monthly fees, subscriptions, insurance, service bills, and business charges. The logic is similar to that of direct debit, but with a simpler experience and potentially accessible to a larger number of businesses and consumers.
I see this evolution as natural. Pix was created to facilitate the movement of money and is now supporting new financial experiences. But there is a condition for this advancement to be positive: a fast transaction also needs to be identifiable, auditable, and subject to efficient fraud prevention mechanisms.
The faster money circulates, the more sophisticated the controls needed to protect that circulation.
This doesn't mean that one technology will necessarily replace another. The growth of Pix doesn't represent the end of cards. What's most likely is a coexistence increasingly defined by the function of each instrument. Pix tends to gain ground in cash payments, transfers, recurring charges, and low-cost transactions, while cards should remain relevant in installment credit, loyalty programs, and consumer protection mechanisms.
If Pix brought speed to money, Open Finance can bring context. The system allows consumers to authorize the sharing of their financial data between institutions, facilitating product comparison, credit portability, and access to personalized services. The Central Bank has been working on expanding Open Finance to credit, investments, salary portability, and solutions aimed at businesses.
In April 2025, the institution reported 52 million clients and 3,3 billion weekly queries on its system. More recent figures released by the financial sector indicate more than 126 million users or consents. The comparison requires caution, because clients, users, and consents are different metrics, but the numbers help to show the scale that this ecosystem can reach.
In practice, Open Finance can reduce consumer dependence on the bank where they hold their main account. With authorization, a fintech company can analyze a client's financial transactions across different institutions and offer credit based on a more complete history.
This possibility, however, does not mean that interest rates will automatically fall. For the benefit to reach the consumer, effective competition, transparency in risk models, and ease of revoking authorizations will be necessary. It is precisely in this combination of data and decision-making that artificial intelligence gains importance.
Banks and fintechs are already using models to identify suspicious transactions, analyze credit, automate customer service, and personalize offers. The Febraban Banking Technology Survey 2026 estimates investments of R$ 50,4 billion in technology in the banking sector throughout the year. Cybersecurity is a priority for all institutions surveyed, while cloud computing and generative artificial intelligence appear among the main investment areas.
I believe that AI will be increasingly present behind the scenes of financial operations. Consumers may not even realize when an algorithm is analyzing their behavior to identify fraud or evaluate a credit transaction. But this invisibility brings an additional responsibility.
The more automated the financial system, the greater the need to explain why a transaction was blocked, an account was submitted for review, or credit was denied. We cannot confuse efficiency with a lack of transparency.
Another frontier of this transformation lies in international payments. Pix can already be used in establishments in eight countries through solutions that automatically convert to reais. The Central Bank, however, does not yet consider this an official international Pix.
I see room for this expansion to reduce dependence on cards and facilitate purchases by Brazilians abroad, especially in South America. But currency agreements, interoperability between systems, common QR code standards, and rules to protect against fraud will still be necessary.
At the same time, stablecoins and other digital assets backed by traditional currencies are beginning to gain traction in this discussion. The Central Bank has already included tokenization and virtual assets among the topics on its regulatory agenda.
I don't believe these technologies should be analyzed in isolation. Quite the opposite is happening: different infrastructures are beginning to connect.
Over the next five years, this should become increasingly common: recurring payments authorized only once, contactless purchases without a physical card, credit based on the customer's complete financial history, anti-fraud systems that analyze behavior in real time, assets and receivables used digitally as collateral, international payments with automatic conversion, and financial services integrated into apps, marketplaces, and e-commerce platforms.
For companies, this transformation can mean reduced payment processing times and operational costs. At the same time, it will increase the pressure for technological integration, regulatory compliance, and the ability to monitor transactions.
For the consumer, the experience tends to become simpler. But simplicity cannot mean loss of control. As money becomes faster and more invisible, it will be necessary to pay even more attention to consents, automatic charges, scams, and the use of personal data.
Brazil is building a financial infrastructure with its own characteristics: large-scale instant payments, regulated data sharing, strong action by the Central Bank, and rapid adoption by consumers and businesses.
Pix was the first major step because it popularized instant transfers and reduced transaction friction. But, in my view, its greatest impact is yet to come.
The next cycle will be more comprehensive. Money will not only circulate faster, but it can also be programmed, analyzed by artificial intelligence, associated with tokenized assets, and integrated into different platforms.
Therefore, I don't see the future as a dispute between Pix, cards, Open Finance, artificial intelligence, or digital assets. The main change will be the integration of all these technologies into a single financial journey.
Technology needs to make the user's life easier, but it also needs to strengthen the integrity of the system. The future of payments will be defined by the combination of speed, convenience, transparency, and control. Pix was the beginning. Now, we are entering a stage where the real revolution will be making all these technologies work together.
(*) Leonardo Baptista is CEO & Co-founder of Pay4Fun, a payment institution that offers financial solutions for the entertainment sector. The entrepreneur has over 15 years of experience in the gaming and information technology industry. Leonardo was included in the list of the ten most inspiring CEOs by CIO Business Review, which selects the most influential executives in the business world, and was also recognized by the SBC Awards Americas 2026 as Latin America's Leader of the Year.
