Brazil's central bank approved on Friday (18) a package of changes to the rules of Pix, the country's instant payment system. The changes allow Pix Automático, the recurring-payment mode, in salary accounts, regulate hybrid billing that puts a bank slip and a QR code on one document, and tighten the rules for the banks and fintechs that run the system, including new anti-fraud duties. Some measures take effect immediately; the rest arrive on February 1, 2027 and July 1, 2027, according to g1, CNN Brasil and Metrópoles.
What changes in salary accounts
A salary account, or conta-salário, is the restricted account an employer picks to deposit a worker's pay in Brazil. Until now it has worked almost like a mailbox for money: the salary arrives, and the usual next step is moving it somewhere else. From July 1, 2027, account holders will be able to authorize recurring payments straight from it through Pix Automático, for things such as school fees, subscriptions and utility bills. The mechanic is the same as a streaming subscription: you authorize once and the following charges go out on their own. According to g1, Pix Automático will be the only outbound Pix mode allowed from these accounts, which will still be barred from receiving other transfers except refunds and payments from the National Treasury. The central bank says the change aligns Pix with recent rules on interbank automatic debits.
Hybrid billing, a practice part of the market already used, is now regulated. It is one document with two ways to pay: the bank slip barcode and the Pix QR code. From February 1, 2027, the mode will only be allowed for Pix charges with a due date and for common or dynamic bank slips with no link to financial assets; proposal, deposit and funding slips are out. Once the slip is paid, the Pix charge must be canceled automatically, and institutions must block duplicate payments. If an operational failure lets a wrongful charge through, the institution must fix it with its own money, at no loss to the payer or the payee. Offering the mode stays optional for banks.
For institutions, the central bank tightened both the way in and the way out. Companies with more than 500,000 active transactional accounts can be exempted from mandatory Pix participation when their customer profile or business model does not justify access. Approvals obtained with false information can be annulled, institutions under extrajudicial liquidation are suspended immediately, with a window of up to 30 days for an orderly exit that makes it easier for customers to withdraw their money, and the exclusion of punished participants now takes effect on the spot instead of up to 30 days after the final decision.
On fraud, the rules changed for "founded suspicion" markings in the DICT, the directory that stores Pix keys, something like the system's phone book. The institution that records a marking now answers for canceling it too, must inform the customer, the date and the right to contest, keep channels open for questions and review requests, and reply within seven days. If the analysis does not confirm the suspicion, the marking must be canceled. The duty to inform users starts on February 1, 2027; the rest is immediate.
Who gains what
Following the money explains the package. Banks that run payroll accounts get a reason for wages to stay longer in the salary account, since uses for that money were scarce. Companies that bill recurring charges, from schools to streaming services, get a debit rail with wider reach. The cost of failure moved onto the balance sheets of banks and fintechs: when a wrongful charge slips through, they pay for the fix, with no loss to the customer.
What we still do not know
The reports consulted carry no fraud figures and no central bank estimates of the measures' impact. There is no list of which institutions may request exemption from mandatory participation, and nothing requires banks to offer Pix Automático in salary accounts on day one. The 2027 deadlines leave room for the rules to be adjusted.
For readers, three dates matter. If your pay lands in a salary account, nothing changes until July 2027, and it is worth asking your bank whether the feature will be offered. If your Pix key gets a fraud suspicion marking, from February 2027 you have the right to be told and to request a review, with an answer within seven days. And if a hybrid bill is paid twice by mistake, the correction comes out of the institution's pocket.