A new payment option aims to widen access to instalment purchasing in Brazil, allowing more consumers to spread the cost of online purchases while helping merchants unlock growth among underserved customer groups.
EBANX has announced a strategic partnership with Pagaleve to introduce Pix 4x, a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solution that enables purchases to be split into instalments using Pix as the payment method. While instalment payments are a decades-long tradition in the largest Latin American economy – practised by 70% of consumers, per Serasa Experian – this method makes instalment purchasing accessible without a credit card, a trend on the rise in emerging markets. It seamlessly blends this deep cultural preference with the immense popularity of Pix, the instant payment system used by 96% of the adult population, giving consumers the power to split purchases into four biweekly instalments.
Through Pix 4x, global companies will be able to reach not only the 60 million people who do not own a credit card, according to the country’s Central Bank, but also the significant number of Brazilians who face low credit limits.
“Brazil has one of the world’s most sophisticated payment ecosystems and Latin America’s largest e-commerce market, but millions of consumers have been locked out of instalment payments due to credit barriers,” said Sebastian Fantini, Director of Product at EBANX. “By integrating Pagaleve’s risk engine with our global merchant network and Pix’s ubiquity, we’re creating something the Brazilian market has never had: a truly open BNPL platform accessible to any customer, anywhere in the country, that allows them to participate in the global digital economy.”
EBANX analysis based on Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI) data projects Brazil’s digital commerce market will reach US$516 billion by 2028, a 54% growth from the US$336 billion recorded in 2025.
“The model we’ve built with EBANX breaks down traditional barriers because it doesn’t require consumers to have a credit card or limit available to pay a purchase in instalments”, explained Eduardo Zucareli, Chief Commercial Officer of Pagaleve. “That opens the door to three underserved segments that we’re now reaching at scale: consumers without credit cards and those with restrictive credit card limits”.
Brazil’s BNPL market landscape
Brazil’s BNPL sector is experiencing strong momentum, with e-commerce spending projected to reach US$2.7 billion by 2028, representing an 8% compound annual growth rate from 2024 to 2028, according to PCMI data analysed by EBANX.
Last year, 47% of transaction value in e-commerce was processed through instalments, placing Brazil second among the 15 emerging markets analysed by PCMI, behind only Argentina at 60%. According to EBANX’s internal data featured in the Beyond Borders 2026 study, instalments can boost Average Order Value (AOV) in Brazil by up to two point seven times. Retailers offering this payment option also recorded an average 20% revenue increase, with SaaS providers experiencing growth peaks of 22.5%.
The technology and its economic impact
At the core of Pix 4x is Pagaleve’s proprietary risk analysis engine, built with machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms. The system conducts instant credit assessments in under three seconds, evaluating over 100 data points, including products purchased, quantity, amount, seller, customer profile, credit score, device and IP address.
“This approach delivers approval rates two to three times higher than competitors while maintaining a delinquency rate of just 2%, demonstrating the precision of AI-driven risk assessment”, Zucareli noted.
The partnership with EBANX connects this credit intelligence to more than 500 merchants across online retail, gaming, social media and online education verticals, democratizing access to products and services previously available only to higher-income consumers.
For global merchants, Pix 4x simplifies the complexity of offering instalments as a cross-border payment option while removing financial risk. While shoppers pay the first of four biweekly instalments immediately at checkout, sellers receive the payment, with Pagaleve assuming 100% of the default risk. This mirrors EBANX’s proven approach in local payments of using advanced technology to extend instalments to underbanked consumers, enabling them to access the global digital economy.
According to Pagaleve, one retailer using the platform saw a 40% increase in AOV, and conversion rates rose by up to 20%. Total e-commerce sales increased 5%, with 82% of new shoppers using the solution, proving that the technology serves as both a payment facilitator and a significant growth lever.
“What makes Brazil’s BNPL market unique is how it merges the nation’s long-standing installment culture with modern instant payment infrastructure. This combination creates something powerful: a purchasing behaviour Brazilians already trust, delivered through technology they already use daily, and extended to populations that traditional credit never reached,” said Fantini. “This is another success story that positions emerging markets as innovation leaders in the payments industry.”
