Next Friday, February 28th, Pix by Proximation, also called Pix by Biometrics, will come into effect throughout Brazil. This is a new payment method modality via Open Finance, which promises to bring even more ease and security to users.
A trusted consultant for the Initial Open Finance Structure with the Central Bank and specialized in enabling Open Finance for financial institutions, the technology multinational Sensedia listed the main benefits and precautions that users and companies need to take when starting transactions via Pix by Proximity.
“Previously, to make a purchase through Open Finance, the user was redirected to their bank account’s app or internet banking to make the payment. Starting February 28, this type of transaction will be made more fluidly. This is because the new functionality aims to simplify the payment journey by allowing the user to complete the transaction using the bank details saved in their digital wallets, without the need to be redirected to their bank or financial institution’s app via ‘copy and paste’,” explains Gabriela Santana, Product Manager at Sensedia.
How it will work
To use Pix by Proximation, the user will only need to link their banking information to a digital wallet, such as Google's, just as we do today with credit card data on an e-commerce website, for example.
“After registering the bank account in the wallet, the person will be transferred to the banking application only to configure authorizations such as maximum limits per transaction and duration of that link. Once this is done, transactions via Pix will already be enabled to be made via the wallet, without the need for redirection to the banking application, which can even be deleted from the cell phone if the user wishes”, adds Santana.
Remembering that each operation via Pix by Proximity will require the user to authenticate the final operation with biometrics, password or Face ID (i.e. facial recognition).
“In addition to the security requirements, reinforced by no longer requiring the need for a banking application to carry out transactions via Pix and by the possibility of configuring a maximum transaction limit via wallet, Pix by Proximation will also be able to read QR Codes, both printed and digital, and will allow transfers to be made between users, following the limits established during the linking process”, adds Santana.
Institutions already qualified
According to the definition of the Central Bank of Brazil, the largest financial institutions in the country – which hold 99% of the total payment transactions carried out via Open Finance – were required to implement the JSR (Journey Without Redirection) responsible for enabling functionalities such as Pix by Proximity, by November 2024. For the others, the requirement will only come into effect starting in 2026.
“During the testing period, in addition to technical developments, the regulator monitored some indicators, such as PCM (Metrics Collection Platform) reports, API response time and the quality of the user experience journey. Upon reaching 100% in the monitored indicators, the institutions were authorized to continue with the pilot project in production. Therefore, in some digital wallets, the option to pay using Pix by Proximity is already available”, highlights Santana.
Next steps
Specializing in the development of projects that require the FIDO Server security protocol, mandatory by the BC for Pix authentication, and in the management of account links via APIs, Sensedia has also developed a solution to serve ITPs (Payment Initiators).
“The objective of the project is to enable ITPs to also enable payments via Pix in the environment where a purchase is being made, such as websites, e-commerces, applications and marketplaces, without the need for redirection to the user's banking application through the current 'copy and paste' function, offering even more security and convenience to users”, says Santana.
According to data from the Central Bank, Open Finance already has more than 64 million active consents and 42 million users in Brazil.
