Skip to content

Financial System Infrastructure in Brazil Consumption Trends Analysis

Behavior Change Signals

1. Overview

Brazil’s Financial System Infrastructure (FSI) is experiencing a profound transformation driven by shifting consumer and business behaviours, progressive regulation, and rapid technological advances. Ten dominant behaviour-change signals have been identified; together they are reshaping every step of the FSI value chain—from origination to technology and innovation—and accelerating Brazil’s transition toward a fully digital, open, and instant financial ecosystem.

2. Detailed Signals and Value-Chain Impact

# Behaviour-change signal Core description & metrics Principal value-chain stages affected Strategic implications for industry participants
1 Mass adoption of real-time payments (Pix) • Pix transactions >138 bn in 2024 (R$ 26.4 tn, +52 % YoY) [1,2]
• >6 bn Pix txns/month Q4 2024		 Payments Processing, Clearing, Settlement, Registry, Risk Management • Revenue migration from cards/TED to Pix fees
• Need for 24 × 7 high-throughput rails and fraud-monitoring engines
2 “Digital-first” banking preference • Nubank 80 m clients; digital accounts >60 % of adults [3] Origination, Trading & Execution, Technology & Innovation • Branch light models dominate retail; incumbents accelerate core-system modernization and UX redesign
3 Data empowerment via Open Finance • >50 m data-sharing consents by Jan 2025 [4] Origination, Risk Management, Technology, Regulation • Hyper-personalised credit/investment offers
• Rise of third-party aggregators and scoring fintechs
4 Surge of fintechs, BaaS & embedded finance • >1 300 fintechs; Banking-as-a-Service APIs growing 60 % p.a. [5] Technology & Innovation, Payments, Regulation • Traditional FIs turn into service platforms
• Need for clear licensing & interoperability standards
5 Retail investor diversification • B3 retail accounts 5.5 m (↑15 % YoY); incentivised debenture issuance R$ 111.9 bn 2024 [6,7] Origination, Trading, Custody, Asset Servicing • Demand for low-fee digital brokerages and fractional products
• Expanded post-trade volumes and custody needs
6 SME/MEI digitisation & B2B payment boom • Pix B2B volume >R$ 1 tn Dec 2024 (+56 % YoY) [8] Payments, Registry, Origination • Opportunity for cash-flow-based lending using receivables data
• Growth of integrated ERP-payments platforms
7 Heightened security & fraud awareness • Pix-related fraud cases +38 % in 2024 [9] Risk Management, Technology, Regulation • Spending shift to AI-driven fraud detectors, biometric ID, cyber-insurance
8 Cost-transparency & “Custo Brasil” pressure • Merchants save ≈70 bps MDR moving from cards to Pix [2] All fee-based stages (Payments, Custody, Trading) • Margin compression drives scale plays and process automation; regulators scrutinise monopolistic pricing
9 Cloud-native & AI operating models • Bank IT spend R$ 39 bn 2023; >70 % new workloads cloud-deployed [10] Technology, Risk, Clearing, Custody • Legacy core replacement imperative; CCPs evaluate cloud for real-time margining
10 Tokenisation & DREX (CBDC) pilots • DREX pilot phase-2 2025; B3 tokenised-asset sandbox live [11] Settlement, Custody, Origination, Technology • Prospect of T+0 atomic DVP; new issuance rails for SMEs; smart-contract based collateral management

3. Narrative Analysis

  1. Real-time payments as the new norm
    Pix’s explosive growth has shifted consumer expectation to instant, low-cost transfers. Card acquirers, boleto processors and TED rails face declining volumes, forcing fee restructuring and prompting incumbents to develop overlay services (e.g., Pix Garantido). Clearing house Nuclea scales infrastructure to handle >30 bn payment messages annually, while fraud-risk models migrate from batch to real-time AI.

  2. Digital-only relationship models
    Younger cohorts and SMEs prefer app-based journeys, accelerated by pandemic adoption. Universal banks respond by shuttering branches, launching “second brands”, and embedding digital onboarding across Origination & Trading. Exchange participation surges via zero-commission brokers, elevating B3’s average daily trades but compressing order-flow margins.

  3. Open Finance catalyses personalised origination
    Mandatory API frameworks allow clients to port transaction histories, enabling new entrants to underwrite unsecured credit or curate investment baskets with superior precision. Risk-management departments integrate alternative data, challenging traditional bureau-based credit scoring and fostering credit-as-a-service platforms.

  4. Platformisation and embedded finance
    E-commerce marketplaces, mobility apps and ERP vendors integrate payments, credit and insurance natively, disintermediating frontline banking relationships. Banks reposition as infrastructure providers (BaaS), monetising compliance and capital while relinquishing direct customer interface. Regulation adjusts to authorise Payment Initiation and Account Information Service Providers.

  5. Retail search for yield
    Double-digit inflation adjusted returns drive households into equities, structured notes and corporate bonds. Investment apps gamify education, while tokenisation promises fractional exposure to real-estate CRIs/CRAs. Custodians enhance digital-asset support; CVM Resolution 175 updates fund taxonomy to attract retail flows.

  6. SME finance reinvention
    Brazil’s 21 m MEIs and 7 m SMEs increasingly demand one-stop digital finance. Open receivables registries (CERC, TAG) plus instant settlement facilitate dynamic discounting and collateral-light lending. Fintech lenders embed cash-flow analytics into payouts, shrinking origination costs and expanding credit penetration.

  7. Security as differentiator
    Rising social-engineering scams threaten trust in digital rails. Institutions deploy biometric authentication (face, voice), behavioural analytics, and consortium data-sharing. Regulators mandate liability-sharing frameworks and periodic penetration testing across IMFs.

  8. Price deflation across infrastructure layers
    Merchant pushback on MDRs and investor scrutiny of custody/trading fees intensify. B3 and top custodians introduce tiered rebates; competition authorities explore opening clearing to new entrants. Efficiency gains through ISO 20022 and straight-through processing become strategic.

  9. Cloud & AI reshape operations
    Core banking migrations to hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP) enable elastic scaling required by Pix and Open Finance. CCPs pilot cloud-based margin engines, reducing overnight batch windows. AI models optimise liquidity buffers and automate regulatory reporting.

  10. Digital assets & CBDC edge closer to production
    DREX aims for on-chain RTGS settlement of tokenised deposits and securities, promising atomic DVP and programmable money. Exchanges and registrars test token-as-a-service modules; regulators craft taxonomy for stablecoins and asset tokens. Early-mover advantages anticipated in collateral management and SME capital-raising.

4. Synthesis by Value-Chain Stage

Value-chain stage Behaviour-change vectors Key operational adjustments already visible
Origination & Structuring Open-data underwriting; tokenised issuance; SME receivable securitisation Digital originator platforms partnering with registrars; pilot token offerings under sandbox rules
Trading & Execution Mobile brokerage influx; 24 × 7 asset token trading vision Exchange extends trading hours; brokers integrate real-time funding via Pix
Clearing Pix-driven volume spike; cloud-ready risk engines Nuclea scales message bus; B3 trials intra-day margin recalibration in cloud
Settlement Demand for T+0 and atomic settlement STR/Selic ISO 20022 migration; DREX RTGS smart contracts testing
Custody & Asset Servicing Diversified asset classes; digital-asset safekeeping need Banks building digital-asset sub-custody; B3 enhances API reporting
Registry Massive receivables flow; lien perfection speed critical CERC/Tag APIs integrated into SME loan origination stacks
Payments Processing Contactless Pix, B2B Pix, embedded check-out Acquirers pivot to Pix rails; ERP providers embed instant pay buttons
Risk Management Surge in fraud vectors; alternative-data credit scoring Sector-wide threat-intel sharing; AI-enabled behavioural risk models
Regulation & Supervision Agile rule-making for fintechs, CBDC, Open Finance BCB issues iterative normative acts; CVM sandbox extends to tokenisation
Technology & Innovation Cloud, AI, API economy; platformisation Banks adopt microservices; fintech–bank partnerships proliferate

Summary Table of Key Findings

Dimension Observation
Consumer behaviour Instant, mobile, and low-cost payments have become non-negotiable; users expect personalised, app-centric finance.
Business behaviour SMEs embrace digital cash-flow tools and B2B Pix, fuelling demand for integrated finance and receivables-backed credit.
Competitive dynamics Fintech insurgents leverage Open Finance to erode incumbents’ data moat; incumbents pivot toward BaaS models.
Infrastructure load Transaction volumes and real-time processing requirements are outpacing legacy capacity—prompting cloud migration and ISO 20022 standardisation.
Risk & security Fraud and cyber risk escalate with digital volumes, driving investment in AI security and shared liability frameworks.
Regulatory trajectory Regulator remains proactive—rolling out Open Finance phases, drafting CBDC rules, and encouraging competition in monopolistic layers.
Investment outlook Tokenisation, DREX, and embedded finance open new revenue pools, but margins compress in traditional rails (cards, custody, trading fees).

References

  1. Banco Central do Brasil. Sistema de Pagamentos Brasileiro (SPB). https://www.bcb.gov.br/estabilidadefinanceira/sistemadepagamentosbrasileiro
  2. FEBRABAN. Pix é o meio de pagamento mais usado no Brasil em 2023. https://quantoplan.febraban.org.br/noticias/pix-e-o-meio-de-pagamento-mais-usado-no-brasil-em-2023-ted-lidera-em-valores-transacionados
  3. Estudo market share de bancos: em 5 anos, bancos tradicionais têm queda de 57 %. https://materiais.idwall.com/market-share-bancos
  4. Banco Central do Brasil. Open Finance. https://www.bcb.gov.br/estabilidadefinanceira/openfinance
  5. Dock. Infratech financeira: como a estrutura tecnológica pode transformar e otimizar os serviços financeiros. https://www.dock.tech/blog/infratech-financeira/
  6. Money Times. B3: volume financeiro médio diário cresce 4,1 % em abril. https://www.moneytimes.com.br/b3-b3sa3-volume-financeiro-medio-diario-cresce-41-em-abril-para-r-256-bilhoes/
  7. ANBIMA Data. Volume emitido de incentivadas supera em 65 % o total de 2023. https://data.anbima.com.br/debentures/volume-emitido-debentures-incentivadas-supera-2023
  8. Finsiders Brasil. Quantidade de pagamentos digitais cresce 31 % no primeiro semestre. https://www.finsiders.com.br/noticias/pagamentos/quantidade-de-pagamentos-digitais-cresce-31-no-primeiro-semestre-do-ano/
  9. IT Forum. Tendências de tecnologia para o mercado financeiro. https://itforum.com.br/tendencias-de-tecnologia-para-o-mercado-financeiro/
  10. Value Chain Report on the Financial System Infrastructure Industry in Brazil (2024).
  11. Banco Central do Brasil. Infraestruturas do Mercado Financeiro. https://www.bcb.gov.br/estabilidadefinanceira/infraestruturasmercado