The Central Bank (BC) published a resolution on Thursday (05/06) outlining the rules for companies to join automatic Pix, to prevent fraud. One of the requirements is that the name provided by the company when making the request must match the name registered with the Federal Revenue Service. Additionally, the company must have been operating for at least six months with an active CNPJ before initiating charges. All banks that offer Pix will also be required to offer the new modality of the BC’s payment system.
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Avoiding Scams
In an interview, the BC’s Director of Financial System Organization and Resolution, Renato Dias Gomes, explained that the regulation is designed to prevent fraud. For example, a scammer could use a slightly altered version of a well-known name, such as Light (the electricity distributor), to request automatic Pix payments. A customer might unknowingly authorize such a payment and end up sending money to a fraudster regularly.
Access to Recurring Payments
The BC estimates that automatic Pix will provide access to recurring payments for 60 million Brazilians who currently do not have a credit card. The agency also anticipates a reduction in costs and defaults for companies, which will be able to replace traditional billing methods with Pix.
Charges
All charges via automatic Pix must be explicitly authorized by the customer through their bank. During this authorization process, customers must indicate whether or not they allow the charge to be made if their checking account has a negative balance. An additional convenience for consumers is the advance notification of the charge amount, which must be sent up to two days before the scheduled payment. Customers may dispute or cancel the payment until 23:59 on the day before the charge.
Automatic Pix
When authorizing charges through automatic Pix, the customer must define specific parameters, such as the maximum amount for each payment. If there are insufficient funds in the customer’s account at the time of the scheduled debit, up to three attempts will be made within seven days. This new modality is expected to eventually replace the traditional automatic debit system.
Analysis:
The introduction of Automatic Pix, as regulated by Brazil’s Central Bank (BC), represents a significant step in modernizing the country’s payment systems and expanding financial inclusion. However, from a public security perspective, this new feature also introduces challenges that require close monitoring, particularly regarding the prevention of frauds, cybercrimes, robberies, and express kidnappings.
Although the BC has implemented safeguards — such as requiring that the company’s name match its registration with the Federal Revenue Service and mandating a minimum of six months of active business operation — fraudsters may still exploit user inattention during the authorization of recurring payments, especially by mimicking the appearance of well-known brands. As digital scams grow more sophisticated, technical barriers alone are not enough; digital literacy and user awareness are equally essential.
