By Brazil’s biggest banks are turning everyday conversations into instant payment tools, using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to make transferring money as easy as sending a message.
Financial giants, including PicPay, Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, and Nubank — part of Nu Holdings Ltd. — now let customers send money directly inside Meta Platforms Inc.’s WhatsApp, without opening a separate banking or payments app.
According to a Bloomberg report, the development builds on Pix, the instant-transfer system launched by Brazil’s central bank in 2020.
The tool has become the backbone of Brazil’s digital economy, enabling 56 billion transactions last year alone and driving mobile-banking adoption to 90% in 2024, up from 56% in 2020.
That rate overtook the US, where 75% of consumers used mobile banking last year.
GenAI and Pix combine to power Brazil’s digital leap
This integration marks the latest phase of Brazil’s rapid fintech expansion. WhatsApp’s widespread use — with over 90% of Brazilians on the platform — gives banks direct access to millions of users daily.
By embedding Pix inside verified WhatsApp chats, banks are merging two technologies people already trust: the country’s most popular messaging service and its most successful payments network.
Instead of logging into a banking app, customers can initiate a transfer through text, voice, or image.
They only need to include the amount and a Pix key — which could be a phone number, email address, taxpayer ID, or randomly generated code — linked to the recipient’s account.
The system also supports payments made in shops. A customer can send the purchase amount along with a photo of the seller’s Pix QR code.
The AI verifies details, redirects users momentarily to their banking app for password or biometric confirmation, and returns a receipt directly within the chat — creating the illusion that the transaction happened entirely inside WhatsApp.
Everyday banking made conversational
This conversational model is reshaping how Brazilians interact with money. For many, paying by chat has become second nature.
Biomedical researcher Alvaro Lima, 31, who often orders lunch via WhatsApp, now sends money immediately using Nubank’s Pix feature, avoiding forgotten payments.
Bloomberg states that the convenience of “paying where you chat” is driving deeper engagement with digital finance and pushing Brazil ahead of other markets experimenting with GenAI-driven payments.
While China, the US, and Europe continue to dominate in areas like financial planning and wearable-tech integration, Brazil has carved out leadership in AI-based payments and regulatory innovation.
Regulation, competition, and a global ripple effect
Bloomberg notes that according to KPMG’s financial-risk expert Fábio Licere, Brazil’s fintech success stems from an unusual mix of conditions — strong consumer adoption, modern regulation, and intense competition between traditional and digital players.
This environment has allowed local innovators to set global standards rather than simply follow them.
Brazil’s open banking framework and supportive central bank policies have encouraged firms to experiment with AI and instant payments at scale.
With Pix expanding its service range, international rivals are taking notice — and in some cases, feeling the pressure.
Global payments giants like Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. have voiced concerns that Pix’s government-backed infrastructure gives it an unfair edge, while Big Tech companies argue that the system benefits from regulatory advantages they cannot match.
The debate gained further traction when US authorities began examining Pix following President Donald Trump’s tariff measures against Brazil in July, amid allegations of unfair trade practices.
Even so, Brazil’s combination of AI, chat-based transactions, and central-bank innovation is being closely studied by other nations.
It has transformed a once-fragmented financial system into a globally recognised model for digital inclusion and real-time payments — turning Brazil into one of the most influential players in AI-driven finance today.
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