Brazil’s Central Bank regulates Pix Saque and Pix Troco

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Central Bank (BC) has changed the regulation of Pix, instant payment system, to include withdrawal and change modalities. The resolution was published on Friday (26) in the Federal Gazette.

The services will be available from Monday, November 29. According to the Central Bank, the offer of the two new products to users of the tool is optional, and the final decision is left to commercial establishments, companies that own self-service networks, and financial institutions.

PIX SAQUE

Pix Saque will allow customers of any institution that is part of the system to make withdrawals at any point that offers the service.

Commercial establishments, shared ATM networks, and Pix participants, through their own self-service can offer it. To access the cash resources, customers will make a Pix transfer to the withdrawal agent, in a process similar to a normal Pix, by reading a QR Code or from the service provider’s app.

PIX TROCO

With Pix Troco, the process is virtually identical. The difference is that the withdrawal of cash funds can be made during the payment of a purchase to the establishment. In this case, the Pix is made for the total amount, i.e. the purchase plus the withdrawal. The customer’s statement will show the amount corresponding to the withdrawal and the purchase.

LIMIT

The maximum limit of Pix Saque and Pix Troco transactions will be R$500 (US$89) during the day, and R$100 at night (from 8 PM to 6 AM). According to the Central Bank, new Pix products providers will be free to work with limits lower than these figures should they consider it more convenient for their purposes.

FEES

According to the Central Bank, there will be no fees for natural persons (individuals and individual micro-entrepreneurs) charged by the institution holding the cash account or the prepaid payment account for the Pix Saque or Pix Troco for up to 8 monthly transactions. From the 9th transaction on, the financial or payment institutions holding the user’s account may charge a fee for the transaction.

The amount of the fee charged is freely established by institutions and must be communicated to the paying user before the transaction is confirmed. “Users can never be charged directly by withdrawal agents,” the Central Bank stressed.

The Central Bank also explains that the 4 free traditional withdrawals made by users outside the scope of Pix Saque and Pix Troco can be deducted from the free withdrawal allowance (8 per month). In other words, if users make a withdrawal from their account other than through Pix Saque or Pix Troco, this may be accounted for and their free allowance may be reduced from 8 to 7, at the institution’s discretion.

For businesses offering the service, Pix Saque and Pix Troco operations will carry a fee ranging from R$0.25 to R$0.95 per transaction, depending on the negotiation with its partner institution.

“The offer of the service will lower establishments’ costs with cash management, such as those related to security and deposits, in addition to allowing establishments to gain more visibility for their products and services (‘window effect’),” the Central Bank says.