Pix payment: what it is and how to accept it from outside Brazil

A Pix payment is an instant transfer between two accounts in Brazil, settled in a few seconds at any time, including weekends and holidays. Banco Central do Brasil created Pix and has run it since November 16, 2020. People, companies and government bodies can all send and receive Pix.

• Instant: the Central Bank says funds are available to the receiver within seconds.
• Always on: 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
• Free for people: the Central Bank lists no fees for individuals; businesses pay their payment provider.
• Irrevocable: once started, a Pix transaction can’t be cancelled like a card payment, though refunds and special return processes exist.
• Simple to start: the payer scans a QR code or uses a Pix key (an alias registered to the receiver’s account) instead of typing bank details.

If you sell to people in Brazil, Pix belongs at checkout next to cards. Stripe’s pricing page describes it as Brazil’s most popular payment method, used in more than 40% of online transactions.

At an online checkout, the customer picks Pix, sees a QR code or a Pix code to copy, approves the payment in their banking app, and the checkout confirms it. On a computer they scan the QR code with their phone; on a phone they copy the code and paste it into the bank app.

1. 01The customer chooses Pix at checkout.
2. 02The checkout shows a QR code or a Pix string.
3. 03The customer scans or pastes it in their banking app and approves, often with biometrics.
4. 04The checkout confirms the payment, usually within moments.

One difference from cards: the banking app doesn’t send the customer back to your site. Your checkout has to wait for the confirmation and then move them on, which providers’ hosted checkouts do for you.

Customers can also pay a business directly with its Pix key, an alias registered to the business’s account. For an online store or app, a QR code generated by your provider for each order is better: the Central Bank describes both static and dynamic QR codes, and a code per order lets the checkout match each payment to the right purchase without manual checks.

Yes. A business outside Brazil can accept Pix through a payment provider that offers cross-border Pix: your customer pays in Brazilian reais, and you are paid out in your own currency. With providers such as Stripe and dLocal, you don’t need a Brazilian company, but each runs its own checks on your business.

• Stripe’s docs list Pix for Stripe accounts in the US, Canada, the UK, Switzerland, Australia, Singapore, Brazil and many EU countries, with customers in Brazil. A US account is settled in US dollars.
• Paddle lists Pix for customers in Brazil, priced in reais, as part of its merchant of record checkout.
• dLocal says businesses can be incorporated outside the countries it covers and lists Pix and Pix Automático for Brazil.

Here is what four providers document about Pix on their own sites, checked on October 24, 2026. Fees appear only where the provider publishes them.

Mercado Pago documents Pix through its Checkout API on its Brazilian developer site. If your company is outside Brazil, check its account requirements first; the cross-border providers above document that case directly.

To choose, start from what you sell. For subscriptions, check Pix Automático support first. If you don’t want to handle tax in Brazil yourself, a merchant of record such as Paddle does it for a higher fee. If you already use a processor for cards, adding Pix there keeps reporting and payouts in one place.

Accepting Pix from abroad costs you the provider’s fee, and costs your customer a Brazilian tax called IOF. As of October 2026, Stripe’s pricing page lists Pix at 2% per successful charge, plus 1.5% for international transactions and 1% if currency conversion is required.

• Stripe lets you absorb the IOF instead, so the customer sees R$100; the tax is then deducted from your payout.
• Stripe’s limits for Brazilian customers paying a business abroad: $3,000 a day and $10,000 a month per customer, per business.
• Minimum Pix payment on Stripe: R$0.50.
• Paddle shows the IOF at checkout before payment and the customer pays it.

Compare total cost, not the headline rate: the provider’s fee, any currency conversion, the customer’s IOF and whether you or the customer pays it all change what you keep.

Pix Automático is Pix for recurring payments: the customer authorizes a business once in their banking app, and later charges are taken automatically within the amount and schedule they approved. The Central Bank’s Pix Automático FAQ says it can be used for weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly billing.

• No fee for the payer: the Central Bank’s FAQ forbids charging the paying customer; the business’s provider may charge the business.
• Advance notice: each charge is scheduled between 2 and 10 days before it is taken, so the customer can plan for it.
• Limits: a charge above the amount the customer authorized fails, per Stripe’s docs.
• Provider rules differ: Stripe offers it only to businesses outside Brazil; Paddle doesn’t support daily billing with it.

For an app sold by subscription, Pix Automático is what makes Pix workable: without it, Brazilian customers would need to pay by hand every month.

1. 1

   Price in Brazilian reais

   Pix is paid in BRL. Set a local price that fits Brazilian buyers rather than converting your dollar price to the cent.

2. 2

   Choose a provider

   Decide whether you want a merchant of record that handles tax, or a processor where you handle it. Check that your business type is allowed: Stripe lists categories that can’t use Pix, such as pharmacies, gambling and dating.

3. 3

   Turn on Pix and Pix Automático

   Enable Pix in your provider’s settings. For subscriptions, enable Pix Automático so customers authorize once.

4. 4

   Decide who pays the IOF

   By default the customer pays it on top. Absorbing it shows a cleaner price but comes out of your payout.

5. 5

   Translate the checkout and receipts

   Brazilian customers expect Portuguese. If you send your own receipts instead of the provider’s, Stripe asks you to list the IOF as a line item.

6. 6

   Test the full flow

   Run test payments, a refund and, for subscriptions, a renewal. Check what the customer sees in the bank app and on their statement.

7. 7

   Set refund and dispute rules

   Stripe allows Pix refunds within 90 days. Pix disputes are rare but, on Stripe, can’t be contested, so keep clear records of what each customer bought.

The main surprises are what the customer sees and what you can’t undo. Plan for them before launch.

Offer Pix next to cards rather than instead of them. Cards still cover cases Pix doesn’t: Paddle, for example, notes that installments aren’t supported with Pix. Showing both, with a price in reais, lets each customer pay the way they trust.

• Statement name: on Stripe, its partner Ebanx appears as the recipient on the customer’s bank statement, with your business name in a separate field. Tell customers in your receipt.
• No custom statement descriptor on Stripe’s Pix payments.
• Pending payments: a customer can leave the bank app without paying. Send a reminder with the QR code if your provider supports it.
• Limits: large one-off sales may hit per-payment or per-month limits.
• Abandoned codes: a QR code that is never paid isn’t a failed card, so don’t treat it as a decline in your emails or analytics.

If you are still deciding how to charge, subscriptions, packs or one-off sales, read how to monetize an app. If you would rather not set up a provider at all, an AI app builder with payments built in can handle Pix for you.