After Tumbling 90%, Fintechs Battle Brazil Instant-Payment Mania
- Pix payment system seen as step toward future without cards
- More firms are fighting ‘over a smaller piece of the pie’
The two firms, once worth a combined $50 billion, are now valued at only about a 10th that level.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The once-hot Brazilian fintechs StoneCo Ltd. and Pagseguro Digital Ltd. are losing market share to old-time payment processors and new competition from an unlikely source: a system created by the nation’s own central bank.
The two firms — which were once worth a combined $50 billion and attracted investors including Warren Buffett and Jack Ma — are now valued at only about a 10th that level. And the hemorrhaging is expected to continue as the central bank’s instant-payment app, known as Pix, and a proposed digital currency have sparked predictions of a future without credit cards.