Central Bank announces end of the R$500 ceiling for contactless transactions with Pix from October 2026

A determination by the Central Bank (BC), published in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU) last Wednesday (17), established the cancellation of the daily limits of R$500 for transactions carried out with Pix by contact. The new regulations will come into force from October 1, 2026.

The measure revokes articles from the original instruction of August 2024, which had imposed the ceiling on values. With the change, users will have the flexibility to request an increase or decrease in their limits for this payment method.

Pix by contact, in operation since February 2025, works in a similar way to credit and debit cards linked to digital wallets. Since its launch, all financial institutions have made the tool mandatory for their customers.

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Additionally, this functionality allows Pix to be integrated with platforms such as Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, eliminating the need to open the bank application to complete operations.

To start using Pix by contact, the user needs to link their account to the digital wallet on their cell phone. The steps are:

• Access the digital wallet;
• Choose the option to link the account to the wallet;
• The bank application will open automatically;
• Authorize the Pix connection via contact with the digital wallet.

When making an approximation payment via Pix, the process is similar to using debit and credit cards already connected to your smartphone. Steps include:

• Tell the attendant which payment method you want;
• Check that the transaction data is correct;
• Bring the phone closer to the payment machine;
• Confirm Pix operation.

In just over five years since its creation, Pix has established itself as the way of carrying out financial transactions most adopted by Brazilians, being used by 76.4% of the population.

The platform has already handled an amount of more than R$75.4 trillion and recorded around 181.6 billion transactions, according to data from the Central Bank compiled by CNN Money until the end of last year.

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Furthermore, Gabriel Galípolo, president of the Central Bank, highlighted that the instant payments system was one of the most crucial elements for the banking inclusion of Brazilians in recent years, facilitating access to credit and consumption services.

In line with this vision, during a public hearing at the Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) of the Federal Senate in May this year, Galípolo highlighted that there is no competition between Pix and the credit card, but rather a complementary relationship.

“Pix incorporated individuals who were on the margins of the financial system, allowing them to have bank accounts and, consequently, access to credit cards,” he explained. According to the authority, the bank customer base expanded considerably after the introduction of Pix and grew along with it.

Recent research also indicates that tuition payments at schools and higher education institutions via Pix grew by 21% in 2025, totaling R$690 million handled, according to information from Gennera.

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Payments fintech Ebanx also points out that Pix is ​​about to expand its recent leadership over credit cards in the country’s payments scenario.