Brazil’s national immediate payment platform Pix will introduce an automated recurring payment function later this year, and experts say it can unlock $ 30 billion in the e-commerce sector.
The new feature is known as Pix Automatico and is launched in mid-June 2025. This allows 150 million PIX users to charge their accounts for recurring bills, which include monthly payments for services such as streaming and tools. Currently such recurring payments can only be implemented through banking debits or third-party fintech services in Brazil.
Ebanx, a regional fintech company in Latin Americasays Pix Automatico will be a gaming exchange for the already very successful payment platform. The company projects that the new feature will process over $ 30 billion in e-commerce payments.
Pix -processes over $ 330 billion digital payments for Brazilians at the time of writing. The service, which was launched in 2020 by the Central Bank, has become very popular. According to Central Bank’s data, Brazilians made 42 billion payments via Pix 2024, an increase of 74% from year to year. This was 23% higher than payments made with credit and debit cards together.
However, in e-commercePix has not yet turned the tables for traditional payments. By 2023, less than a third of all online payments accounted for, while credit card accounted for over 50%.
This is likely to change this year with automated payments, experts say. Ebanx Vice President of Product Eduardo de Abreu told Reuters that while PIX has eaten into the market share for credit and debit cards in most market segments, Pix Automatico’s largest goal will be the unbank. This demographic cannot secure credit cards mainly due to low credit ratings and missed services such as digital payments for tools and streaming.
The new feature also saves dealers of millions of dollars in monthly fees. PIX payments cost traders 0.22% on average in transaction fees; Debit card fees in Brazil, on the other hand, an average of 1%, with credit cards that cost traders up to 2.2%, according to BISC for international settlements (BIS) data.
The ubiquitous use of Pix in Brazil is likely to cancel Central Bank’s driving force for a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Most countries that explore retail CBDCs are aimed at increasing financial inclusion, but with Pix with over 150 million users, Brasil’s need for a CBDC is not as pressing. Brasil’s central bank has tried to expand its CBDC in addition to payments, with Governor Roberto Campos Neto disclosure In October last year, the central bank is investigating tokenization and defi integration.
Middle East Fintech company AfS expands to UAE
In the Middle East, Bahraini Fintech company Arab Financial Services (AFS) has secured a license from the UAE center bank and marked its first expansion to the country.
Afs received A license for payment services – Category II from UAE Central Bank (CBUAE) this week. The license allows the digital payment company to offer “innovative and secure payment solutions adapted to UAE’s dynamic financial landscapes.”
“We are pleased to launch our innovative payment solutions in the United Arab Emirates, a nation known for its progressive vision for digital transformation. Our advanced suite with services will strengthen both consumers and companies with improved convenience, security and financial freedom, ”commented AFS CEO Samer Soliman.
The company’s expansion to the United Arab Emirates is supported by $ 150 million in funding, the company revealed. AfS promised to collaborate with local fintechs, supervisory authorities and other industry stakeholders to expand their footprint in the fourth largest economy in The Middle East.
AfS has offered its digital payment services to millions of users in the Middle East and Africa, with a significant presence in Bahrain, Egypt, Oman and over a dozen other nations. In addition to its independent products it is note with local banks to offer services such as card processing and sponsorship.
AfS ‘Foray into the United Arab Emirates comes in the midst of an increase in digital payments in the Middle East’s nation, which has long fought to the transition from cash payments. A new study of VISA (Nasdaq: v) Funs that digital payments have seen a significant recovery over the past year. However, cash still accounted for 23% of all payments last year, with almost half of all cash users attributing to the used and wide acceptance. For two of three respondents, however, only 1-2 were made of their last 10 transactions in cash, a significant reduction from the year before.
See: The future of payments with CODE CTO
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