The US claim that Pix competes with credit cards makes no sense, says president of ABBC

The United States government, under the leadership of Donald Trump, elected an enemy in the Brazilian financial system: the Pix.

According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Brazilian instant payment is responsible for promoting unfair competition with North American credit card companies, such as Visa and Mastercard.

In an investigation by the USTR, Pix is ​​used as an argument for the new 25% surcharge on 4 thousand Brazilian products by the United States.

The president of Brazilian Bank Association (ABBC)Leandro Vilain, assesses that it is difficult to see competition between Pix and credit cards, as they are products with different functionalities. The statement was made in an interview with Money Mindsprogram of Money Times on YouTube. Watch the full interview.

“The credit card offers you financing in 10 interest-free installments, you have 40 days to pay, it has a frequent flyer program. You have other benefits and features of the product that Pix doesn’t have”, says Vilain.

Pix, on the other hand, allows the person to carry out a transaction 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with instant receipt.

For Vilain, instant payment is a process, regardless of the name it receives around the world, as it is already a reality in several countries.

“The world has moved towards this movement of instant payments. Today, the technology exists for this”, he says.

Vilain, who participated in discussions on the development of Pix, remembers that the payment method was responsible for something initially considered a surprise: the benefit of financial inclusion.

As a result, people no longer needed to carry out cash transactions, carrying large amounts of money with them and running the risk of being robbed along the way, he says. “An interesting thing is that today we don’t see so many armored vehicles anymore, it’s gone from our scene.”

Pix x credit card

In operation since November 2020, more than 170 million individuals use Pix, the equivalent of 80% of the Brazilian populationaccording to data from the Central Bank (BC).

According to the BC, more than seven billion monthly transactions via the instant payment method. In 2025 alone, Pix surpassed the R$35 trillion mark in transfers.

Regarding the credit card, the president of the BC, Gabriel Galípolo, stated that 101 million people use the payment method in Brazil, in reference to data from January this year.

However, the number of active cards in the country reached 243 million at the end of the first half of last year, according to statistics from the municipality, which means that Brazilians have more than one credit card.