ECB, Central Bank of Brazil Study Link Between TIPS and Pix

The European Central Bank and the Central Bank of Brazil are studying whether Europe’s instant-payment settlement system can connect with Brazil’s Pix network, a step that could shape future cross-border payments between the two markets.

The feasibility assessment covers technical, operational, legal and business considerations under the G20 Cross-Border Payment Roadmap. No final agreement, implementation date or public launch plan has been announced.

The Eurosystem’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement, or TIPS, settles instant payments in central-bank money around the clock, 365 days a year. The service currently supports the euro, Swedish kronor and Danish kroner.

The ECB’s May 5, 2026, status presentation placed the Brazil-Pix corridor in a pre-investigation phase running from June 2025 through September 2026. The exploration and realization phases had not started.

A connection would link existing payment infrastructures rather than move Pix into Europe. It also would not mean that a cross-border service is ready for public use. Which currencies would be supported, how foreign-exchange conversion would work and when a service could launch remain undetermined.

The work forms part of broader efforts to improve international payments, which the G20 roadmap identifies as facing high costs, slow processing, limited access and insufficient transparency. The ECB says its ambition is to reduce the global average cost of international retail payments to no more than 1%. Nearly one-fifth of global payment corridors exceeded 3% in 2025.

The ECB is also assessing or pursuing connections involving India’s Unified Payments Interface, Switzerland’s SIC Instant Payments system and the Nexus Global Payments network.

The current Brazil-Pix project remains at the study stage, with the pre-investigation phase scheduled to continue through September 2026.