Brazil

In-store, Pix has joined cards as a mainstream option. In 2024 account-to-account payments (Pix) made up 32% of point-of-sale value, credit cards 26%, cash 17%, debit and prepaid cards 12% and digital wallets 10%, according to Worldpay; cash’s POS share more than halved from 35% in 2020. Card payments are now mostly contactless: ABECS reports that tap-to-pay accounted for 73.6% of in-person card purchases in 2025. Visa, Mastercard and the domestic scheme Elo are the main card brands, and merchants take Pix through dynamic QR codes shown on terminals or phones, or through static printed codes.

Worldpay estimated Brazil’s e-commerce market at US$86 billion in 2024 and forecasts 9% annual growth to 2030. ABECS reports that card spending through the internet and other remote channels reached R$1.1 trillion in 2025, up 18.3% on 2024. Traffic is concentrated on marketplaces: in December 2025 the most visited shopping sites were Mercado Livre, Shopee and Amazon Brasil, followed by Shein, Samsung, iFood, Magazine Luiza and AliExpress, according to Conversion, reflecting strong demand for cross-border platforms. Checkouts routinely collect the buyer’s CPF (individual taxpayer number), which registered boletos require and many local payment flows ask for, and shoppers expect instalment options and prices in BRL.

The Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) regulates payment schemes and payment institutions under Law 12,865/2013, owns and sets the rules for Pix, and supervises foreign exchange under the principles-based framework of Law 14,286/2021, which requires FX to go through BCB-authorised institutions. Under BCB Resolution 494 of 2025, all payment institutions, including smaller ones previously exempt, need prior BCB authorisation; existing e-money issuers and acquirers had to apply in May 2026. Personal data falls under the LGPD, enforced by the ANPD. Licensed fixed-odds betting, overseen by the Ministry of Finance’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, may only take deposits by Pix, TED, debit or prepaid card; credit cards, boletos, cash and crypto are banned under Ordinance SPA/MF 615/2024.

In the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025, 86% of Brazilian adults had an account in 2024 (84% in 2021), 74% owned a debit card and 44% a credit card, and 40% had paid digitally for an online purchase; only 2.6% received wages in cash only. Pix has spread digital payments widely: the BCB’s Pix management report says 148 million individuals and 12.8 million businesses used it in 2025, equivalent to 86% of the adult population.