RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Technological advances have significantly reduced the use of what was once the most traditional means of payment among Brazilians: checks.
Since 1995, check clearing has dropped 93.4% in the country, according to a survey released yesterday, January 14, by the Brazilian Federation of Banks (FEBRABAN).
The downward trend is continuous and has not stopped over the last 26 years. In 2021, the clearing volume fell 23.7%.
But despite the drop, the method of payment is far from extinct. Last year, 218.9 million checks were cleared nationwide. The volume totaled 287.1 million in 2020 and reached 3.3 billion in 1995.
THE END OF THE BAD CHECK?
The financial volume of check transactions has also plummeted. In 1995 the amount handled in this modality totaled R$2 trillion (US$361 billion). The amount dropped to R$668.4 billion in 2020 and R$667 billion in 2021.
One of the main issues in the use of checks has also plummeted. The number of bad check returns fell from 56.8 million in 1997 (when FEBRABAN started collecting data) to 15.2 million in 2020 and 13.6 million last year.
DIGITAL VS. ANALOG
According to FEBRABAN, electronic means of payment have conquered the preference of Brazilians. Digital channels (internet and mobile banking) currently account for 67% of transactions in the country.
This trend has intensified since the Pix was launched in November 2020. The 24-hour instant electronic transfer system has registered 7 billion transactions and handled R$4 trillion in a little over a year of existence. According to FEBRABAN, 71% of Brazilians subscribe to the tool and it is well rated, with approval growing from 76% at the time of launch to 85% today.