Payment methods have been changing in Latin America, but guaranteeing the population's access to cash has not become a pressing issue in the region in the same way as in Europe. . This is not due to a lesser adoption of digital means of payment. Despite unequal adoption of technological solutions by the countries in the region, all the major economies already have some sort of digital payment system in use by significant parts of the population. To understand the unique landscape of the region, three countries serve as examples.
Brazil: Where Pix Already Won
In Brazil, Pix is king. In a record month, 3 trillion BRL were transferred using the Central Bank-developed 'instantaneous payment system', Pix; there are claims that the average per month is not far behind. With a similar protection level to systems from traditional banks, the possibility to use 'keys' to make the transactions viable without sharing the entire bank information of a user, and, arguably more important, without any fees, Pix has become the main payment method in the country. Some researchers estimate up to 80% of consumers use it as their main payment method in daily life. When this payment landscape is combined with the most thriving fintech scene in Latin America, the impact on access to cash can not be overstated.
In the last 10 years, Brazil lost 37% of its bank branches. Companies have been investing in remote support and saving costs as the economy further digitalises. Closing a bank agency is a relatively simple action. Regulations are light and depend mostly on a short warning to the competent authorities, varying between 30 and 60 days. The synergy between these two factors has caused some public discussion. The Senate's Committee for Transparency, Governance, Oversight and Control, and Consumer Protection (CTFC) approved a requirement for a public hearing on bill PL 5456/2025 that would establish new rules for the closing of bank branches and, more crucially, on 'mitigation points of service'. These points are defined as fixed or mobile physical units that ensure essential banking services defined by the Central Bank (BCB) or the Monetary Council (CMN). This is extremely likely to include ATMs.
Nonetheless, the same Parliament discusses limiting transactions with cash. In March 2026, bill PL 3951/2019, limiting cash transactions, reached the Chamber of Deputies for review, after being approved by the Senate. The bill would amend Law 9613/1998 to grant the National Monetary Council (CMN), after 'hearing' the Council for Financial Activities Control (COAF), the power to issue guidelines and impose a maximum value limit on the carrying out of cash financial transactions and the payment of checks and bills in cash. Use of cash in real estate transactions would be forbidden. The goal is to tackle money laundering; in practice it goes beyond that and maintains the trend in favour of more digitalised means of payment.
It is important to note that businesses in the country are mandated to accept cash if they must and that price differentiation based on means of payment is legal. This tends to make retailers offer discounts for cash and Pix, given that they do not charge them with any extra costs, offsetting, in a way, the risk of cash completely phasing out. Stronger measures to guarantee access to cash are unlikely as digital means of payment, especially pix, are favoured by the public. In fact, it is more likely that a syncretism between both advances. The Central Bank has already rolled out new Pix functionalities, including withdrawal (saque) and exchange (troco), essentially enabling stores to give physical cash to customers following Pix transactions.
Colombia: Cash Rules, Bre-B Rises
In Colombia, unlike Brazil, physical currency remains dominant, driven by a large informal economy and a 0.4% financial transaction tax on many electronic transfers and withdrawals that disincentivises bank transfers. Cash availability is guaranteed nationwide through banking correspondents; local corner stores and retail outlets act as neighbourhood bank branches, allowing citizens to deposit or withdraw cash. Existing digital tools, such as digital wallets, complement rather than immediately replace physical cash access.
Therefore, digital technologies are coming as initiatives to complement, rather than immediately replace, physical cash access. Digital wallet apps expanded financial account ownership dramatically, allowing citizens to receive government social welfare payments. However, recipients then cash out at nearby correspondent locations, not replacing cash totally.
Despite the prevalence of physical cash, in October 2025 the Banco de la República launched a new mechanism inspired by Brazilian Pix, the 'Bre-B'. Bre-B is a central-bank-mandated, 24/7 payment network that enables instant, zero-fee transfers between any bank or e-wallet using simple aliases or keys (llaves, such as phone or ID numbers). Adoption so far has been swift: in its first six months of full operation, Bre-B processed over 617 million transactions valued at 97 trillion pesos. Connecting 218 financial institutions, 33 million users, and 2.8 million active merchants, Bre-B is rapidly digitising everyday payments across the country. It remains to be seen how deeply Bre-B will alter daily financial habits in Colombia, especially as the system is still fresh and regulators continue issuing updates each month.
Mexico: Geography Shapes the Balance
The digital payments market in Mexico shows strong growth but still coexists with a high use of cash, especially for low-value transactions. Due to a prevalent and significant informal economy, the domestic consumer economy remains reliant on physical currency, with cash accounting for 35% of total point-of-sale volume. However, cash access in Mexico faces large geographical and structural challenges, as private banking infrastructure is heavily concentrated in affluent urban centres. This leaves rural municipalities in southern and disadvantaged areas with severe ATM deserts that are complemented through convenience stores that allow cash withdrawals. Government rural initiatives such as the Banco del Bienestar have also been implemented to provide financial inclusion.
Furthermore, certain cash transactions are also limited to curb tax evasion and organised crime. Under the Federal Anti-Money Laundering Law, Mexico strictly restricts the use of physical cash for high-value commercial transactions. Operations exceeding defined thresholds, such as real estate purchases and vehicle acquisitions, cannot be settled in cash, forcing buyers and sellers into traceable digital or banking rails.
However, to digitalise the economy, in 2004, Banxico launched a real-time gross settlement system, SPEI, which has expanded rapidly. This system transfers settlements within seconds or minutes and is usually free of cost. Currently, approximately six out of ten people in Mexico use SPEI. Building on its success, the CoDi (Cobro Digital) system, which utilises QR codes and NFC technology for instant point-of-sale transactions, was launched in 2019. As digital transactions expand, the country has established a detailed regulatory environment for Payment Service Providers (PSPs), primarily governed by the 2018 Fintech Law (Ley para Regular las Instituciones de Tecnología Financiera) alongside secondary regulations issued by Banco de México and the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV). For instance, Banxico recently published new guidelines to harmonise the user experience for electronic fund transfers executed via SPEI and CoDi.
Overall, digital payments are projected to grow rapidly in the country across retail and e-commerce. Conversely, cash usage at points of sale is expected to fall steadily, though rural cash access infrastructure will remain protected to support underbanked populations.
In Summary
Access to cash is not among the high legislative or regulatory priorities in Latin America because it is not an issue for those countries. The adoption of innovative payment solutions was paired with physical cash, as these economies depend on it and already had policies in place to guarantee cash access for vulnerable and remote populations. This presents another horizon for the discussion: coexistence instead of substitution.
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This text was co-written with Karen Espinola Gutiérrez and Kauan Cangussu.