PIX (Brazilian payment system)

• every shop I saw in Brazil had a QR code exposed to receive instant payments through PIX
• when opening Google Wallet to pay contactless, I was nudged to setup PIX within Google Wallet itself, however a Brazilian bank account is required, so I wasn't able to try it out
• the system is provided by the Brazilian Central Bank (Banco Central do Brasil) since 2020
• transactions work via exchange of encrypted signed messages over a private network
• institutions must comply with the Brazilian equivalent of GDPR, which is called Brazilian General Data Protection Act (‘Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados’ – LGPD)
• other than scanning QR codes or using aliases, PIX can be used online with PIS (Payment Initiation Service) where the user is redirected to authorise the initiated payment via app authentication, similarly to TrueLayer's Pay By Bank
• there even is the feature PIX Automático to authorise recurring payments (for bills etc) similar to TrueLayer's VRP (Variable Recurring Payments) product

References

• https://www.bcb.gov.br/en/financialstability/pix_en
• https://www.bcb.gov.br/en/about/faq
• https://truelayer.com/payments/
• https://truelayer.com/vrp/