ECB and Brazil explore cross-border link between TIPS and Pix

The European Central Bank and Banco Central do Brasil are examining whether Europe’s TIPS instant-payment infrastructure could be connected with Brazil’s hugely successful Pix network, potentially creating a new real-time payment corridor between Europe and Latin America.

ECB and Brazil explore cross-border link 

The ECB confirmed to Reuters that the two central banks are conducting a preliminary assessment of a possible connection between the systems. Reuters reported that, according to sources familiar with the discussions, a pilot project could be launched as early as 2028.

Such an initiative would represent the first international expansion of Pix and another significant step towards connecting domestic instant-payment systems across borders.

Building bridges between instant-payment networks

The potential link reflects the ECB’s broader ambition to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper and more accessible by connecting TIPS — the Eurosystem’s Target Instant Payment Settlement service — with payment infrastructures outside Europe.

Rather than relying exclusively on traditional correspondent banking arrangements, interconnected real-time systems could allow consumers and businesses to transfer funds internationally using domestic payment infrastructure at either end of the transaction.

The ECB is already pursuing similar interoperability initiatives. Work began last year on exploring connections between TIPS and India’s Unified Payments Interface, alongside other instant-payment systems in Asia.

Within Europe, TIPS is also expanding its currency coverage. The euro, Swedish krona and Danish krone can already be settled through the platform, while the Norwegian krone is expected to join in 2028 and Iceland’s króna is also scheduled to become part of the service.

Pix provides a powerful potential partner

Brazil’s Pix network demonstrates how rapidly account-to-account payments can transform a domestic market.

Introduced by Brazil’s central bank in late 2020, Pix is now used by around 170 million people — equivalent to approximately 91 per cent of the country’s adult population. Consumers can make immediate transfers, while merchants have gained a lower-cost alternative to conventional payment methods.

Brazilian authorities are now looking beyond the domestic market. The central bank has indicated that it wants to explore interoperability between Pix and international payment systems, opening the possibility of cross-border transactions using the infrastructure.

A European connection would therefore carry considerable significance. Brazil is one of Latin America’s largest economies and there are substantial commercial, tourism and remittance flows between Brazil and Europe.

Cross-border payments become increasingly strategic

The initiative also highlights a broader structural change in global payments.

Domestic instant-payment systems were originally created primarily to modernise local bank transfers. Increasingly, however, central banks are considering how these infrastructures can be connected internationally.

That could gradually reshape the economics of cross-border payments by creating alternatives to conventional correspondent banking and card-based transactions.

The development has also acquired a geopolitical dimension. Pix has attracted scrutiny from the US, amid concerns over the impact of state-backed payment infrastructure on American payment companies and the potential longer-term implications for dollar dependence.

For the payments industry, the significance therefore extends beyond a single Europe-Brazil corridor. If TIPS, Pix, UPI and other national systems become interoperable, the next phase of instant payments could be defined not simply by domestic adoption, but by the emergence of an increasingly connected global network of real-time payment rails.