Banks request changes to Pix rules to prevent kidnappings, theft – 08/26/2021 – Market

Banks are asking the BC (central bank) to ease the rules of Pix, the Brazilian system for instant payments, to obstruct the criminals.

After the launch of the new payment method, in November last year, the road sector took advantage of Easy and fast pix To apply scams or ask the victim to quickly transfer large amounts of money during burglaries or kidnappings.

Orange accounts are often used by criminals to receive money, as well as distribute it to others, which makes it difficult for police to track down the amounts and break up gangs.

according to a sheetOne of the institutions’ requests is for BC to give banks the freedom to negotiate with their customers about transfer and payment limits within the system.

Currently, the Bank needs to offer Pix the same limit as TED (Electronic Transfer Available). The customer, based on this amount, can ask to increase or decrease this ceiling, but the bank cannot take the initiative.

In addition, TED, when the funds land in the recipient’s account, is settled within 20 minutes during business hours, while Pix is ​​settled instantly.

Banks also want the cap to be negotiated through the transaction channel – with different values ​​for transactions made by cell phone, computer or ATM – and adjusted for when the transaction takes place. Thus, the institution can determine that the maximum amount is smaller, for example, at dawn.

When BC required the Pix limit to the extent of TED, the intent was that banks would not offer lower payout amounts for the privilege of legacy transfer tools, which have a fee.

Another sector request is that the bank has up to 24 hours to respond when a customer requests a limit increase within Pix. Currently, the maximum time is one hour. The argument is that the current rule allows the bad guy to wait until the victim can increase the maximum transaction amount in order to get more money.

They are also requesting that the customer remove the Pix button from the first screen of the application – which, according to a large bank, is a requirement of BC.

according to a sheet I found out that BC was in dialogue with financial institutions, which had not yet made clear whether they would comply with the requests.

Criminals are increasingly using Pix.

According to intelligence data from the government of Sao Paulo, these two criminal methods together have been recorded since December last year, 202 crimes in the state of Sao Paulo where victims reported the use of Pix by criminals during the theft.

In the first four months since this type of crime emerged (between December 2020 and March 2021), 51 bulletins have been recorded across the state. From April to July, records jumped to 151 cases.

In May of this year, for example, almost 30% of kidnappings were carried out using this method of transportation – 9 out of 32 cases recorded in that period.

Verapan (Brazilian Confederation of Banks), in a statement, said its member banks prioritize maintaining the security of their customers and “continually help the Central Bank to improve product regulations by implementing features that always bring a better perception of customers and users.”

He continued, “In this sense, and with concern about the increase in issues related to public security, this union is in contact with the technical teams of the Central Bank so that additional measures for security improvements in remittances can be organized as soon as possible.”

He added, “In addition, Verapan remembers that she continues to contribute to the police authorities so that all these crimes can be identified and thanks to the tracking feature in Pix, which allows the identification of the people involved and the consequent accountability.”

Verappan recommends customers to ask their bank to reduce the limit available for transactions via the app or the Internet.

sought, BC did not respond until the completion of this text.

In collaboration with Isabella Bolzani, from São Paulo