PagBrasil and B89 Team to Extend Pix Payments Beyond Brazil

Peru’s B89 teamed with PagBrasil, which develops cross-border solutions for Brazil’s Pix payment system.

The partnership will let B89 — a digital financial solutions company — offer the real-time payment services of Pix International to merchants outside Brazil, according to a Wednesday (Nov. 6) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

“This allows Brazilian citizens either tourists or residents, to pay in Brazilian reais with a guaranteed exchange rate at the time of purchase, eliminating uncertainty in exchange rate fluctuations,” the release said. “Furthermore, transactions made through Pix International are completely secure, ensuring protection for both customers and merchants.”

The collaboration is happening amid a jump in Brazilian tourists visiting Peru, whose numbers grew by 71% between the first seven months of 2023 and the same period in 2024, per the release.

By integrating Pix International, merchants in Latin American countries beyond Brazil can offer Brazilian customers a better payment experience when buying from physical and eCommerce retailers, the release said.

As PYMNTS wrote earlier this year, Pix — introduced by Brazil’s central bank four years ago — sparked major changes to the country’s digital payments landscape, with around 73 million Brazilians being brought into the financial system since its launch.

PagBrasil CEO and founder Ralf Germer told PYMNTS in June that mobile phones have become the chief device for making online purchases in Brazil, and Pix’s integration with mobile platforms has made it easier for shoppers to carry out transactions via their smartphones.

“Brazilians are very open to new things; it is a part of the country’s culture,” Germer said. “People just try things out, and if it works, we’ll continue using it. If it doesn’t, we will try something else. This helps drive digital adoption.”

By accepting Pix payments merchants can gain access to a larger customer base, he said.

Many merchants in Brazil would rather accept cash or Pix payments, a preference that could pose challenges to tourists who may not have access to Pix.

With that in mind, the company debuted a product over the summer called Pix Roaming, which lets foreign tourists make payments using their existing digital wallets or banking apps integrated with the Pix platform.