Pix is growing in e-commerce and has to end payments for boletus purchases
Pix was launched in 2020 as an option for bank transfers by DOC and TED, facilitating people-to-people payments and reducing the importance of these modalities of sending resources – guaranteeing significant fee income to banks. Now the payment system of the Central Bank can make another “sacrifice”, this time in e-commerce: payment by bank confirmation.
For retailers, Pix has the potential to reduce — and even replace — boleto, while increasing e-commerce sales and reducing abandonment. That’s because slip payments aren’t made 50% of the time, according to the Brazilian Electronic Commerce Association (ABComm).
Less than two years after its launch, Pix already shares the second place in the payment method – right next to boletos – and continues to grow. It was accepted in only 16.9% of virtual stores in Brazil in January 2021, but this number increased to 76.3% in July this year (and the consulting company GMattos predicts that it has the potential to reach 92% in the coming years. ).
One reason is that a lack of payment flexibility can lead to cart abandonment: 52% of Brazilian consumers say they abandoned a purchase because they couldn’t pay the way they wanted, according to payments company Adyen.
Boleto might even survive, but become a niche option. In addition to reducing churn, Pix has lower merchant fees than other payment methods. “Taking 0.1% off a retailer’s sales value can mean millions in gains,” says Lorain Pazzetto, head of open finance at Grupo FCamara, a retail technology company.
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More sales with Pix
In Mercado Livre (MELI34), the adoption of Pix increased by about 130% and caused a decrease of 33% in the use of boletus in the second quarter, compared to the same period in 2021. On the platform, the official stores of brands such as Samsung, Nike and Hering now accept payments via Pix.
Mercado Pago, Mercado Livre’s digital bank that has 30 million active users and 10 million sellers and provides payment systems for physical and digital stores, already accounts for a quarter of all transactions made through Pix. The company makes payments via Pixa in pharmacies in the Pague Menos chain (PGMN3) and in C&A physical stores (CEAB3), along with several online stores, for example.
Daniel Davanço, head of payments for Mercado Pago in Brazil, estimates that the sales of merchants who accept Pix have grown 20% to 25% more this year compared to those who did not yet have Pix as a means of payment. “Pix’s conversion today is above 75%. Pix was quickly embraced by the online world, as it improved the experience for all parties.”
Retailers such as Via (VIIA3) have been offering Pix payments since last year, including in brick-and-mortar stores Casas Bahia and Ponto, and recently the company began using the BC payment system to facilitate settlements in debt renegotiation cases as well.
A new alternative to Pix
Magazin Luiza (MGLU3) offers payment via Pix on its website and app, but is also investing in an alternative. The company has created, within Fintech Magalu, a payment system that promises to be faster and more convenient than that of the Central Bank because it does not require consumers to access a banking application or copy and paste barcodes.
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Transfers are made through the Initiator of payment transactions (a modality offered by BC that enables the integration of websites and applications of retail companies with banking systems, in the concept of “open finance”). The payment method was implemented on the KaBuM website, which sells electronics and was bought by Magazin Luiza in 2021 for about BRL 3.5 billion.
Robson Dantas, Head of Fintech Magalu operations, sees the potential for the payment initiator to be simpler than Pixo for online payments and to further reduce purchase withdrawals. “The experience makes life a lot easier for the user, but this tool still has a long way to go to get to where we are with Pixo.”
Mercado Pago and major retailers in the country are also already testing the payment initiator.
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