The European Central Bank and Banco Central do Brasil began a feasibility assessment on linking Brazil’s Pix instant-payment system with the euro area’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement service. The ECB said its Governing Council approved the assessment, which will examine technical, operational, legal and business considerations. The work does not amount to a decision to build or launch the connection.
Pix, owned and operated by the Central Bank of Brazil, handles approximately 250 million instant payments a day settled in central-bank money, while TIPS settles instant payments in central-bank money for participating European payment providers. The ECB said that, given significant economic flows between the euro area and Brazil, a link could facilitate faster and lower-cost instant payments between the two regions.
SCOPE BEFORE IMPLEMENTATION
The Eurosystem is also exploring links between TIPS and other fast payment systems, including Nexus Global Payments, India's Unified Payments Interface and Switzerland's SIC instant payments system, in support of the G20 roadmap for cross-border payments. The ECB did not announce a launch date.
Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported on 3 September that, if the negotiations moved forward, an operational pilot was expected in June 2028, a preliminary timetable subject to change. The ECB’s announcement described the current step only as an assessment.
CROSS-BORDER PAYMENT TEST
Reuters reported on 3 September that a link would be Pix's first cross-border connection; the ECB had identified Pix in June as a currency corridor under exploration for TIPS.
According to the ECB document reported by Folha, an exploration phase was scheduled from October 2026 to March 2027, with any implementation phase from April 2027 to June 2028. Until then, Pix and TIPS remain separate domestic and regional systems.