With Pix, machines will have to offer new services to maintain...

– The acquirers are already reinventing themselves. They are implanting the QR Code in the machines, offering digital accounts, and may have new products in the portfolio, such as credit or insurance. Pix impacts part of the revenue, but opens up new business opportunities – says Marcelo Martins, Pix leader at the Brazilian Association of Fintechs (ABFintechs).

Loss can reach R $ 13 billion

The possibility of account-to-account transactions, at any time of day, brought by Pix reduces intermediaries in the payment chain, such as acquirers, banks and card brands, explains João Bragança, senior manager at German consultancy Roland Berger and media specialist of payment.

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For individuals, the use of Pix, which goes into effect on the 16th, will have no cost. But companies will pay to use the system. The impact on revenue will depend on the speed of adhesion to Pix.

– In India, which implemented a system similar to Pix, the penetration was 25% in three years, and the tariffs were reduced or even zeroed. But the country is more unbanked than Brazil. So I see a more favorable scenario for adhesion – says Bragança, from Roland Berger.

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In the consultancy’s accounts, the loss of revenue for the acquirers can reach R $ 13 billion in relation to the total of R $ 21.4 billion collected in 2019. In this scenario, Brazilians adhere to the use of the QR Code for payments, and the debit transactions are replaced massively by Pix.

But it is too early to say whether this will happen. Bragança recalls, however, that the acquirers were already with profit margins under pressure due to the “machine war”, which attracted new market participants.

Among the companies, it is agreed that the debit card will not be abandoned entirely. Credit, which also generates fee income, is an instrument that the Brazilian uses very often and will suffer less impact.

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– We are getting ready on all payment fronts. We see Pix’s arrival more as new business opportunities than as a threat – says Rodrigo Furiato, director of Digital Portfolio at Mercado Pago.

At the company, a pioneer in the use of QR Code for payments, all machines with this tool will offer Pix. In online payments, recalls Furiato, the payment of slips, which had a limited time, will improve.

Furiato admits that there may be a loss of revenue on the debt, but this will be offset by an increase in business volume and a reduction in the remuneration paid to banks and card brands.

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Financial inclusion

Cielo, the market leader, has also been implementing the QR Code and created Cielo Pay, a digital account for entrepreneurs, recalls Martins, from ABFintech. In a note, Cielo stated that there is potential to increase the number of accredited establishments.

On Stone’s machines, the company says in a note, the QR Code was implemented in June to process purchases made with emergency government assistance. Pix will also be offered by the Stone account.

– Pix is ​​a tool that will help replace cash payments. Therefore, I see more opportunities than risk – evaluates Rodrigo Carneiro, director of the chain, an acquirer controlled by Itaú.

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For Pedro Coutinho, president of Getnet, controlled by Santander, Pix will help to reduce the use of physical money in the country. He believes that the financial inclusion provided by Pix will enable the machine market to continue to grow:

– In Brazil, the experience of using the card is different. See the case of the credit card, which offers points and mileage and encourages its use.