Brazil's instant payment transactions more than doubled on Black Friday

BRASILIA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's popular instant payment system Pix saw a 120.7% jump in the value of transactions recorded on Black Friday compared to the previous year, central bank data showed on Monday.

The figures underscore the widespread adoption of the payment method and its growing use for payments between people and businesses (P2B), as well as the strength of the promotional period in Latin America's largest economy.

On Nov. 29, the central bank said, 130 billion reais ($21.60 billion) were transacted using Pix, up from 58.9 billion reais on Black Friday last year.

Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, marks the start of the Christmas shopping season and is the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States and in many other countries.

The number of transactions also saw a sharp increase, reaching 239.9 million compared to 136.3 million a year earlier, a record for the most transactions in a single day.

Household consumption has been strong in Brazil this year, boosting economic activity while the labor market remains robust, with the jobless rate now at its lowest level ever.

Launched just four years ago by the central bank, Pix has quickly become the most widely used payment system in the country, surpassing credit and debit cards combined.

Black Friday coincided this year with the disbursement of the first installment of Brazil's legally mandated year-end bonus for formal workers, known as the "13th salary," contributing to the surge in transaction values.

Banking lobby group Febraban estimates that the volume of transactions via Pix will spike 58.8% this year compared to 2023, reaching 27.3 trillion reais ($4.53 trillion).

($1 = 6.0188 reais)