Central Bank officially institutes the Instant Payment System

In yet another move towards the digitalization of the national economy, the Central Bank of Brazil published Circular 4,027 that officially institutes the Instant Payment System (SPI).

In addition to the SPI, the Circular also establishes the Instant Payments Account (PI Account).

PIX

The PIX, which Circular 4,207 deals with, aims to meet the demand for fast, cheap and secure payments, as well as Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

"I think it is one of the most important projects that we have this year. PIX came, in fact, out of a need, a demand that people have in general, and has been widely discussed among central banks.

For the President of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, the world demands a new payment instrument.

"(...) that is both cheap, fast, transparent and secure. If we think about what has happened in terms of creating digital currency, cryptocurrencies, encrypted assets, they come from the need to have this instrument, with these characteristics, cheap, fast, transparent and secure "highlighted Roberto Campos Neto, president of the Central Bank.

Circular

In the document, in addition to the official institution of the SPI, the Central Bank defines the rules for the operation of the new system.

In PIX, unlike what happens today, it will be possible to transfer money between accounts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and with a maximum time of 10s.

"SPI is the centralized real-time gross settlement infrastructure for instant payments that result in transfers of funds between its participants holding an Instant Payments Account (PI Account) at the Central Bank of Brazil". said the Central Bank.

Nubank and PicPay

According to the list released by the Central Bank, about the institutions that applied for membership in PIX, alongside major financial institutions such as Banco do Brasil, Itaú, Santander, Bradesco, among others, are the fintechs.

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Thus, companies such as PicPay, PayPal, Nubank, Mercado Pago, Iugu, PagSeguro and many others, have already applied for membership in the system.

According to the Central Bank, companies wishing to join the PIX have until June 1.

After this period, the BC will begin the process of testing and approving the system.

Also according to the Central Bank, a central aspect now is the verification of how the institutions will present the PIX to their clients.

In addition, the BC wants to analyze whether the interfaces meet the requirements defined by the Central Bank.

"We need to ensure that the population has access to PIX in a simple and practical way, so that they understand and can use this new payment method", comments Breno Lobo, head of division at BC.

Bitcoin Exchanges

Bitcoin exchanges can also participate in the PIX.

The Central Bank of Brazil declared to Cointelegraph that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are welcome to the System.

PicPay, PayPal, Nubank, Mercado Pago, check out all the institutions that will integrate the Central Bank's PIX

He also stressed that there will be no restriction on the part of Central Bank of the participation of crypto companies in the new payment system in Brazil.

In a statement to the Cointelegraph, Carlos Eduardo de Andrade Brandt Silva, BCB's deputy head of unit, stressed that "Interoperability, already accommodates all agents, from simple transfers, in the account-to-account model" that the way exchanges operate in Brazil today.

"There will be no restrictions for entities not regulated by the Central Bank of Brazil, including Bitcoin exchanges and cryptocurrencies. Our initiative is to create better conditions of competition between financial services. Now all institutions that are regulated by Bacen must follow the rules that are already established ", he said.