BC discusses Pix Internacional with 4 Latin American countries

BC (Central Bank) president Roberto Campos Neto said this Monday (27.Feb.2023) that he is negotiating the Pix Internacional project with 4 other countries in Latin America: Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay. The information is from the newspaper The globe.

According to the economist, the idea is to form an economic bloc with the countries of the continent to establish the conditions for a cross-border payment method. The statement was made during a lecture at the IDP (Brazilian Institute of Education, Development and Research).

“We are looking at how to make Pix international. Some countries in Latin America are already discussing with us how they are going to adopt Pix. We think there will be a block. You travel between countries and make automatic payment. This solves the problem of cross-border payments. We are working with Uruguay, Colombia and Ecuador. Chile also sought us out”said Campos Neto.

For the president of BC, the internationalization of Pix among Latin American countries is a way of unifying countries without the need to run into the complexities of creating a single currency for the continent.

“I think this is a way of unifying the bloc, without the need to speak in terms of currency. If we have an instant payment, already unified, we already do the cross-border payment work”he concluded.

The Pix Internacional project should be implemented over the next 2 years, said economist Breno Lobo, consultant at the BC’s Department of Competition and Financial Market Structure, in November 2022. Economic value.

Brazil and the Latin American bloc under negotiation follow a global tendency to integrate a system of instant transactions between countries.

In September 2022, the BIS innovation hub (Bank for International Settlements) announced that it is testing a mechanism that would be like an international Pix. The system should cover more than 60 countries.

Real Digital

At the same event, Campos Neto also announced that BC will start the Real Digital pilot project in March this year.

Unlike cryptocurrencies, Real Digital will be guaranteed by the BC and can be used for smart contracts, payments in other countries and the internet of things.

To use Real Digital, you will need to have a virtual wallet from a bank or payment institution authorized by the BC.

The initial version of digital currency can be converted to any other available payment method, such as conventional bank deposit or physical currency.