What PIX is
PIX is Brazil's instant payment scheme, created and run by the Banco Central do Brasil, which writes it Pix. Launched in November 2020, it moves reais between accounts in seconds, around the clock, every day of the year, for people, businesses and government alike.
Payees are reached by a PIX key, such as a tax number (CPF or CNPJ), a phone number, an email address or a random key, or by QR code. A central directory links each key to its account, and payments settle in the central bank's instant payment system. Banks and payment institutions take part directly or through another participant, and companies paying people in Brazil use it, which is why PIX is the rail our payouts module uses for reais.
What it does in your platform
Payouts
Pays out reais to a PIX key or account in Brazil, in seconds and at any hour. A key lookup shows whose account it is before the payout is sent, and each step is posted to the ledger.
How the connection works
PIX is reached through a participant: a Brazilian bank or payment institution, directly or through a partner or payout network that works with one. The module sends payouts through that partner's API and reads back each result.
A payout is due
A seller in Brazil is owed reais. The module screens the payout and holds the amount in the ledger.
The key is looked up
The seller's PIX key, a CPF or an email address for example, is looked up in the central bank's directory, which returns the account holder's name and part of their tax number.
The payment is sent
Your partner sends the PIX payment, and it settles in the central bank's instant payment system.
Paid in seconds
The seller's institution credits the account, at any hour. The partner's update confirms it, and the ledger books the payout.
Or it fails at once
If the key does not exist or the account cannot take the payment, the payout fails straight away, the ledger releases the amount and the reason shows in the backoffice.
Next to other rails
PIX carries reais inside Brazil. The Payouts module sends pesos over SPEI, dollars inside the US over ACH and euros over SEPA, uses SWIFT where no local rail reaches, and picks the rail for each payout by country, currency and amount.
Where a payout network also reaches Brazil, it can stand behind your PIX partner as a second route. Changing partners later changes a connector, not your app, and past payouts stay in the ledger.
When PIX fits best
A strong fit when
- You pay sellers, creators or contractors in Brazil.
- Recipients expect their money in seconds, at night and at weekends too.
- You want to pay people by PIX key instead of collecting their bank details.
Also worth a look
- A payout network that reaches Brazil, if you have no PIX participant of your own.
- SPEI or ACH for recipients elsewhere in the Americas.
How we get you live
The participant
We help you get PIX access through a Brazilian bank or payment institution, or a payout network that reaches it.
The recipients
We set up with you how recipients are paid, by key or by account, and the limits and approvals your payouts need.
The credentials
The partner's credentials and webhook secrets go into your platform's secrets and nowhere else.
A full test run
Payouts, key lookups and failures are tested in the partner's test environment where it has one, then a first live payout is followed into the ledger.
