PIX grows 20% and leads payments in digital channels; see how to create a key

Central Bank changes Pix rules by approximation
The volume of transactions via PIX grew 20% in 2025 compared to the previous year, totaling 30.1 billion transactions. The data comes from the new Banking Technology Survey of the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), released this Friday (26).
The number is almost three times greater than that of bill payments, which totaled 9.9 billion transactions in the period - an increase of 99% compared to 2024.
See the evolution of other payment methods on digital channels:
Credit card: grew 2%, to 2.14 billion transactions;
Debit card: grew 20%, to 60 million operations;
Transfers/TED: fell 8% in the period, to 960 million operations.
The research also shows that 83% of banking transactions in Brazil are already carried out through digital channels, such as cell phone applications and internet banking. Using cell phones alone, the volume of operations grew 169% in the last five years, reaching 187.5 billion transactions.
Banks intensify investments in artificial intelligence
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Artificial Intelligence
Among the technological priorities highlighted by financial institutions, cybersecurity appears at the top of the list, cited by 100% of the banks participating in the survey.
Next are cloud computing (84%), generative artificial intelligence (84%), artificial intelligence (80%), blockchain (32%) and quantum computing (8%), a multidisciplinary area that brings together concepts from physics, mathematics and computer science.
Despite the growing interest, the study points out that around 60% of institutions are still in the early stages of adopting artificial intelligence.
In the case of generative AI, this number is even higher, which shows that banks are still testing the technology and learning how to apply it in their daily lives. According to the research, this scenario indicates that the use of these tools should grow significantly in the coming years, marking a new phase of technological evolution in the banking sector.
Investments in technology have grown 58% in the last five years. For 2026, the expectation is for an investment of R$50.1 billion, an amount 8% higher than the R$46.8 billion invested in 2025.
The expansion should also boost the job market. According to the survey, the expectation is for an average growth of 22% in the demand for information technology (IT) professionals, indicating a boom in the sector.
How to register a PIX key
PIX
Disclosure
The PIX key works as a kind of "alias" for the bank account, allowing the recipient of a transfer to be identified without the need to provide all bank details.
The customer can register as a key the CPF or CNPJ, the cell phone number, a email address or a random key (EVP). Registration facilitates sending and receiving money, making transactions faster and more practical, but it is not mandatory.
"It is not mandatory to register a key to make or receive a PIX. If the user wants to use the instant payment system without a PIX key, it will be necessary to provide all the recipient's bank details to carry out the transaction", informs Febraban.
The four types of PIX keys available are:
CPF or CNPJ;
Address of e-mail;
Cell phone number;
Virtual Payment Address (EVP): 32-character alphanumeric sequence generated by the Central Bank, which allows transactions to be carried out without the need to share personal data, such as CPF, telephone or email, with third parties.

Source: G1