How global merchants can reach Brazilian shoppers with Pix via WooshPay
When you talk about Latin America, Brazil is the center of gravity.
More than 200 million people, the largest economy in the region, and over half of LatAm’s ecommerce volume sit in one country. Brazil is also a textbook example of how local payment methods and local habits can completely reshape how people pay.
If your global strategy treats Brazil as “just another card market”, you’re leaving a lot of money on the table.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
- The main Brazil payment methods in 2025
- Why Pix, local credit cards with installments및 boleto each matter
- How global merchants can use WooshPay to plug into Pix with one simple integration
- Why Brazil needs a dedicated payment strategy
There are three reasons Brazil should not be grouped into “Rest of World” for payments:
1.1 Scale of the Brazil ecommerce market
- Brazil is estimated to account for a large share of Latin America’s total ecommerce sales.
- Ecommerce GMV continues to grow strongly, driven by mobile usage, logistics improvements and a young, online-first population.
If you want meaningful revenue from Latin America, Brazil is the starting point.
1.2 Local payment methods dominate
In Brazil, 현지 결제 방법 are more important than international cards:
- Pix has quickly become one of the most used payment methods, both online and offline.
- Local credit cards (often with installments) still drive a huge share of higher-value purchases.
- Boleto and digital wallets remain relevant in specific segments and user groups.
So if you only accept international Visa/Mastercard, you’re not aligned with how most Brazilians actually pay.
- Pix: Brazil’s instant payment system that became the default way to pay
2.1 What is Pix?
Pix is Brazil’s real-time 결제 시스템, launched by the Central Bank of Brazil in 2020. It connects banks, digital banks, fintech apps, and wallets on a single instant-payment system.
With Pix, consumers and businesses can:
- Send and receive money 24/7 with near-instant settlement
- Pay using a phone number, email, tax ID (CPF/CNPJ), random Pix key, or QR 코드
- Use Pix inside almost every banking or wallet app they already have
For many people, “I’ll Pix you” has become the default phrase — used for splitting bills, paying rent, topping up a phone, or checking out online.
2.2 How big is Pix now?
In only a few years, Pix has:
- Processed tens of billions of transactions per year
- Reached the majority of adults in Brazil
- Become one of the most popular ways to pay for day-to-day purchases
On major shopping days like Black Friday, Pix repeatedly sets new transaction records and grows faster than traditional card payments.
2.3 Why did Pix grow so fast?
Low cost and high accessibility
- For individuals, Pix is typically free.
- For merchants, Pix fees are usually much lower than card processing costs.
- Pix reaches people who do not have a credit card, which is still a large part of the population.
Unified experience across apps
- Every major bank and digital wallet integrated Pix, so users don’t need a separate Pix app.
- The core flow — scan a QR code, confirm, pay — feels similar across apps.
Product evolution
Pix keeps adding new features, such as:
- QR codes and copy-and-paste codes for ecommerce
- Scheduled and recurring payments for subscriptions and bills
- New “Pix in installments” products that aim to combine instant payment with a pay-later experience
This turns Pix from “fast bank transfer” into a full payment product family for ecommerce, recurring billing, and eventually installments.
2.4 What Pix means for merchants
Pix is particularly strong for:
- High-frequency, low- to mid-ticket purchases (food delivery, ride-hailing, digital goods, top-ups, etc.)
- Micro-merchants and small businesses that care about instant cash flow and lower costs
- Cases where card usage is low, limits are tight, or fraud and chargebacks are painful
If you don’t offer Pix at checkout, you are forcing many Brazilian shoppers into their second-choice payment method — or losing them entirely.
- Local credit cards & installments: still the engine for larger baskets
Even with Pix’s explosive growth, local credit cards remain essential in Brazil.
3.1 “Credit + installments” is a core buying habit
Brazilian consumers are very comfortable with installment payments (“parcelado”):
- Many big purchases are split into 6, 12, or even 24 installments.
- The installments often look “interest-free” to the consumer; the cost is priced into the product or shared with the card provider.
The mental model for a lot of shoppers is:
“Can I afford BRL 120 per month for 12 months?”more than“Can I pay BRL 1,440 right now?”
This makes installments a conversion driver for:
- Electronics and appliances
- Furniture, home goods and fashion
- Travel, services and other higher-ticket categories
If you don’t offer installments on local cards, you will see:
- Lower average order values
- More users comparing you against local competitors who do offer installments
3.2 Domestic vs international cards
It’s also important to understand the split between domestic 그리고 international-enabled cards:
- Many cards in Brazil are configured for local use only and bill in BRL.
- Local card brands like Elo 그리고 Hipercard capture meaningful share in certain segments.
If you only run a standard cross-border card setup:
- Some domestic-only cards will not go through
- Installments may not work the way Brazilian consumers expect
In 2025, the reality is:
- Pix dominates in volume and everyday usage
- Local credit cards + installments still drive a huge portion of high-value ecommerce spend
They are not substitutes — you need both options in your overall Brazil strategy, even if they are powered by different providers.
- Boleto and digital wallets: still important for certain segments
4.1 Boleto bancário: from hero to backbone
Boleto bancário is a traditional, regulated bank slip:
- The merchant generates a boleto with a barcode and numeric line.
- The consumer pays it online or at banks, ATMs, and retail locations.
- Confirmation takes time — often 1–3 days — before funds are cleared.
Boleto’s share in everyday ecommerce has decreased, but it remains important for:
- B2B payments
- Education, insurance, and some subscription or invoice-based businesses
- Consumers who prefer not to pay in real time or don’t have card access
As Pix grows, boleto is increasingly used as a billing and reconciliation format, while the actual payment is often made via Pix using a QR code.
4.2 Digital wallets and “super apps”
On top of Pix and card systems, Brazil has a strong layer of digital banks and wallets:
- Examples include Nubank, Mercado Pago, PicPay, PagBank, Inter, C6, and others.
- These apps combine: account balance, Pix, linked cards, micro-loans, investments, and bill payments.
Users might shop or browse directly inside these apps, but when they press “pay”, the underlying method is usually:
- Pix
- A local credit card
- Or boleto
As a global merchant, you don’t need to integrate every wallet separately; you need to support the main underlying Brazil payment methods those wallets rely on.
- What this means for global merchants
If Brazil is strategic for you, your payment setup should answer three questions:
- Can Brazilian shoppers pay the way they are used to?
- Can you reconcile everything across methods without building a big local operations team?
- Can you receive funds in your preferred currency while using local methods in Brazil?
In practice, a competitive Brazil payment stack looks like this:
5.1 Make Pix a first-class payment method
- Show Pix prominently at checkout for Brazil users.
- Support dynamic QR codes 그리고 copy-and-paste Pix codes.
- Handle real-time notifications so you can immediately ship goods or activate services.
5.2 Support cards the way your global stack allows
- For higher-value purchases, local credit cards with installments are still key.
- You may cover these through existing card partners or local card solutions, alongside Pix.
- The important point for UX is to clearly show installment options for Brazilian shoppers wherever your card setup supports it.
5.3 Keep boleto as an option where it fits
- Use boleto for B2B, education, insurance, and invoice-based flows when it makes sense.
- Where possible, allow users to pay boleto via Pix while still keeping boleto references for accounting.
5.4 Unify reporting, settlement and FX as much as possible
Pix, cards, boleto, and wallets all have:
- Different fee levels
- Different settlement times
- Different operational flows
It’s not sustainable to manage all of that manually across multiple local partners. This is where a global payment platform like WooshPay can simplify at least the Pix part of your Brazil stack.
- How WooshPay helps you go live with Pix in Brazil
From a merchant’s point of view, the ideal is:
“One simple integration to add Pix on top of the card setup I already have.”
That is exactly what WooshPay is designed to do for Brazil.
6.1 One integration to add Pix for Brazil users
With a single WooshPay integration, you can:
- Offer Pix as a native payment method for Brazil
- Generate dynamic QR codes and Pix copy-and-paste strings
- Use app-to-app flows where applicable
- Receive standardized status updates and webhooks when a Pix payment is completed, expired, or refunded
You keep your existing card stack as it is, and simply plug Pix into your checkout via WooshPay.
6.2 Unified settlement and FX for Pix
WooshPay lets you:
- Collect in BRL when customers pay with Pix
- Settle in your preferred currency (USD, EUR, SGD, etc.) on agreed schedules
- See fees, FX impact, and net settlement for Pix in the same dashboard you use for other WooshPay flows
Finance and operations teams can easily answer:
- “How much of our Brazil GMV comes from Pix?”
- “What is our effective fee rate for Pix?”
- “What do we actually receive in USD/EUR after BRL settlement for Pix?”
Without building their own local treasury and FX processes just to support Pix.
6.3 Integration options that match your stage
Depending on how far along your stack is, you can choose:
- Hosted Checkout
- Embed WooshPay’s checkout on your site or app. Pix appears with local labels, QR code generation and optimized UX out of the box for Brazil.
- 직접 API 통합
- If you already control the payment UI, call WooshPay APIs to create and manage Pix payments while you handle the front-end experience.
- 결제 링크
- For support tickets, invoices or quick experiments, generate a payment link that offers Pix to the payer — with no development needed.
The same core Pix capabilities are available through all three options.
6.4 Built-in risk, compliance and reporting for Pix
Brazil has specific rules and fraud patterns. With WooshPay, you get:
- Risk controls for Pix tuned by use case and ticket size
- Support for KYC/KYB flows where required, especially if you also use other WooshPay products
- Audit-ready logs and reports so finance, operations and compliance teams can all work from one source of truth
- A practical rollout plan for Brazil with Pix
If you are planning or revisiting your Brazil strategy, a simple roadmap is:
Phase 1 – Go live fast with Pix via WooshPay
- Integrate WooshPay Hosted Checkout, Direct API, or Payment Links.
- Put Pix front and center for low- and mid-ticket items.
Phase 2 – Combine Pix with your card setup
- Use Pix for everyday payments and financial inclusion.
- Use your existing card solution for higher-ticket purchases, including installments where available.
Phase 3 – Optimize using data
- Use WooshPay analytics to track conversion, success rate, and fee impact for Pix.
- Compare performance against card and boleto flows in your wider stack.
- Adjust promotions and UX — for example, offering Pix discounts or highlighting Pix for specific categories.
Final thoughts
In Brazil, Pix is now the default way many people move money, local credit cards with installments still power a large share of ecommerce revenue, and boleto and wallets continue to serve important niches.
The real challenge for global merchants is not understanding this on a slide — it’s making it work in production without building an entire local payments team.
WooshPay fills one key gap:
a simple, global integration that adds Pix to your Brazil checkout, with unified reporting and settlement, so you can speak the language of Brazilian payments where it matters most.