Brazil is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the world—a digital economy projected to exceed USD 200 billion by 2026 (International Trade Administration) with over 90% penetration among the adult population (Payments & Commerce Market Intelligence). For international brands, it’s a market that offers scale, growth, and a tech-savvy consumer base.
But here’s a question you may not have considered: What if your go-to-market plan is unintentionally locking you out of most of this opportunity?
For many companies, the barrier isn’t brand awareness, marketing, or logistics—it’s payments. Specifically, the assumption that accepting international credit cards is enough to access Brazil’s vast consumer base. In reality, this single oversight can cut your Total Addressable Market (TAM) down to a fraction of its true size.
Achieving success when selling in Brazil comes down to removing the payment barriers that exclude the majority of consumers, and that requires a local-first approach that most cross-border strategies overlook.
Why is Relying on International Credit Cards a Flawed Payment Strategy?
For many international brands, the default cross-border payment setup is simple: accept major credit cards, process transactions abroad, and assume the local market will adapt. In Brazil, that assumption is a costly mistake.
While credit cards are common in the country, the vast majority are domestic-only, designed to work exclusively within Brazil’s payment ecosystem. If your checkout only processes international cards, you’re instantly excluding millions of potential customers, no matter how strong your brand or offer.
What’s more, even when shoppers can use an international card, hidden fees can trigger cart abandonment, resulting in a payment experience that feels foreign—and not in a good way.
Let’s break down exactly how many customers you may be missing out on and what other points of friction can arise from a card-only payment strategy.
To How Many Brazilians Can Your International Store Actually Sell?
When your checkout only supports international credit cards, your reach in Brazil is far more limited than you might expect.
To start with, as many as 60% of low-income Brazilians don’t own credit cards at all (CNN Brasil), which makes up a substantial portion of the population. Of the Brazilians who do, many are domestic-only cards, which cannot be used for international e-commerce. Put simply, if your strategy depends solely on international credit cards, you’re leaving out an enormous portion of the Brazilian online population—millions of potential customers who can’t use that payment method.
What Other Friction Points Are Costing You Customers?
Even for the minority of Brazilians who can use international credit cards, there are hidden obstacles that quietly erode your conversions:
- IOF Tax Surprises: The IOF (Imposto sobre Operações Financeiras) is a tax on international card transactions that adds 3.5% to the purchase price. In addition, consumers often only see this charge on their final credit card statement, leading to dissatisfaction and even a lack of trust in your brand.
- Currency Conversion and Spread: Payments made in foreign currency are often subject to unfavorable exchange rates and bank spreads, which further inflate costs. Shoppers may hesitate or abandon purchases when the final total exceeds expectations.
- Checkout Complexity: Even a smooth-looking checkout can become confusing when it requires extra steps for foreign cards: verification codes, temporary limits, or blocked international usage. Each additional step increases the likelihood that consumers will leave without completing the transaction.
- Lack of Trust and Familiarity: International card payments can feel foreign, insecure, or cumbersome—especially to consumers who have never transacted online outside of Brazil.
Put simply, relying solely on international cards not only limits the number of potential customers, but also creates friction for those who could pay, reducing your overall conversion rate. To truly unlock the market, companies must embrace payment methods that Brazilians actually prefer and trust.
The answer lies in understanding Brazilian payment behavior. Unlike in many other markets, Brazil’s online shoppers don’t rely primarily on international credit cards. Instead, they use a mix of instant payments, cash-based alternatives, and local credit cards.
What is Pix and Why Is It Non-Negotiable for Selling in Brazil?
Pix isn’t just another payment method—it’s the key that unlocks access to the majority of Brazilian online consumers. Launched by the Central Bank of Brazil in 2020, Pix is an instant payment method that allows funds to be transferred 24/7, in seconds, directly between accounts.
Its adoption has been nothing short of transformative: 93% of adults have used Pix and 62% name it as their preferred way to pay (Valor International), making it a popular method for not just person-to-person transfers, but also online purchases and even recurring payments. For international brands, this means that a checkout that accepts Pix is immediately more familiar, faster, and more trustworthy to the vast majority of potential customers.
Here’s why Pix is non-negotiable for your payment strategy in Brazil:
- Instant Confirmation: Unlike international cards, payments are cleared in seconds, reducing abandoned carts and improving cash flow.
- Digital Inclusion: Pix reaches consumers who may not have access to international or even domestic cards, effectively expanding your Total Addressable Market.
- Customer Loyalty: With features like one-click repeat payments, Pix can help build a base of returning customers.
With PagBrasil Pix, your business can integrate this system seamlessly, offering Brazilian consumers the payment experience they expect while receiving funds in USD or EUR abroad and increasing your conversions. It’s not just a payment option—it’s a non-negotiable for your success in Brazil.
What About the Millions of Domestic-Only Credit Cards?
It’s a common misconception that “credit card” is a single, universal category. As already mentioned, the Brazilian market is dominated by domestic-only cards issued by local banks and financial institutions that cannot be used for international transactions, meaning that simply accepting Visa, Mastercard, or American Express leaves a huge portion of Brazilian consumers out of reach.
That doesn’t mean, however, that credit cards are entirely out of the question. On the contrary, processing these domestic cards locally is not optional if your goal is full market coverage. By integrating local card networks, international brands can access a broader audience, increase conversion rates, and reduce friction at checkout.
For a successful payment strategy in Brazil, local card processing is a cornerstone that ensures your checkout works for all segments of the population.
How Else Do You Reach Consumers Without a Credit Card?
While Pix and domestic cards open the door to a large portion of the Brazilian market, a significant segment of consumers prefer other cardless payment methods with their own specific benefits:
- Digital Wallets: Increasingly popular among all age groups in Brazil, digital wallets allow consumers to pay quickly and securely using their smartphones. Apple Pay requires a linked credit card, while Google Pay accepts both credit cards and direct bank accounts, even enabling Pix payments via contactless terminals in the case of in-store purchases.
- Boleto: One of Brazil’s most popular payment methods, the boleto bancário (Brazilian bank slip) allows consumers to pay for online purchases in cash or through a bank transfer and receive payment confirmation within three business days. With Boleto Flash® by PagBrasil, payments are confirmed even faster—within one business hour—enabling smooth checkout and quick order processing. What’s more, customers also have the option to pay boletos with Pix, receiving payment confirmation instantly.
By integrating these options, international brands can capture the many Brazilian consumers who previously could not engage with foreign e-commerce sites. This combination ensures maximum market reach and accessibility, making it possible to sell to a larger spectrum of online shoppers.
Can My Business Access This Market Without a Local Entity?
Once they hear about Pix, boleto, and domestic credit cards, many merchants assume that the only way forward is to set up a local entity—and as a result, they delay or even abandon their market entry plans.
But with a specialized cross-border payments partner, you can tap into Brazil’s full payment ecosystem as if you were operating locally, without ever opening a Brazilian entity. You’ll offer every major local payment method, capture more sales, and still receive payouts in your local bank account.
How Does a Cross-Border Payment Partner Work?
Expanding into Brazil doesn’t have to mean navigating an entirely new legal and banking system on your own. With a cross-border payment partner like PagBrasil, you can tap into the full range of local payment options—from Pix and boleto to digital wallets and domestic credit cards—without establishing a physical presence in the country.
Here’s how this intermediation model works:
- Local Payment Processing: Your customers in Brazil pay using the methods they know and trust, all processed through PagBrasil’s local infrastructure. When it comes to your checkout, you have a variety of integration options ranging from API—a solution that puts both the control and responsibility in your hands—to PagBrasil’s exclusive Payment Link, which generates pre-filled payments links and makes it easier than ever to ensure PCI compliance.
- Compliance and Settlement: Outside of meeting some basic standards (which you can read more about in our Guide to Local Payment Methods), you can rely on PagBrasil to handle all contractual relationships with banks and acquirers, money collection, reconciliation, and clearing, so you don’t need to stress over the complexities of processing payments.
- Payout in Your Currency: After processing the payments, PagBrasil converts the funds and remits them directly to your account abroad, in USD or EUR.
- Fraud Prevention with PagShield®: Every credit card transaction is monitored in real time with PagShield®, our advanced anti-fraud solution. PagShield® uses machine learning and behavioral analysis based on data specific to the Brazilian market, allowing it to detect and block suspicious activity much more effectively than a one-size-fits-all solution.
The result? You sell in Brazil as if you were a local merchant, but without the cost, bureaucracy, or delays of setting up a local company. This approach lets you focus on growing your sales while we handle the heavy lifting of payments.
What About Recurring Payments? How Can I Build an Ongoing Revenue Stream in Brazil?
Expanding into Brazil without a local entity is a game-changer for international businesses—but for subscription-based models, the challenge doesn’t stop at market access. Traditional credit card billing often struggles in Brazil, with low approval rates, card expirations, and high churn creating unreliable revenue streams.
This is where PagStream® with Automatic Pix becomes essential. By leveraging Brazil’s most widely adopted payment method—Pix—the platform allows you to set up automated recurring payments directly from customers’ bank accounts, without the need for local credit cards or a Brazilian company.
The benefits of this solution are clear:
- Higher subscriber acquisition: Simplified checkout with Automatic Pix reduces friction at sign-up, even for users without credit cards.
- Lower churn: Payments process reliably and automatically, minimizing failed transactions.
- Predictable cash flow: Your revenue becomes stable and scalable, giving you confidence to grow in Brazil.
In essence, PagStream® lets you build and scale a subscription business in Brazil as if you were local, while still operating entirely from abroad. It turns the complexities of cross-border recurring payments into a seamless, growth-oriented process.
Ready to Start Processing Payments in Brazil?
Expanding into Brazil isn’t just about marketing or logistics—it’s about having the right key to unlock the market. Accepting international credit cards alone leaves the vast majority of Brazilian consumers out of reach and limits your potential conversions and revenue.
The solution is clear: localizing your payments is the first and most impactful step in a successful Brazil strategy. By leveraging a cross-border payments partner like PagBrasil, your business can sell as if it were local, access every major payment method, prevent fraud with PagShield®, and even scale subscription revenue with PagStream® and Automatic Pix, all without a Brazilian entity.
Ready to unlock the true potential of the Brazilian market? Talk to one of our cross-border expansion specialists today to design your market access strategy.
