Canada · MSB
Belize
Chile
PeruNikolai Timofejev
15 years in FinTech and payments. Maps your business model to the right licence scope and leads the file all the way to the Banco Central do Brasil authorisation, including banking and payment rails.
Get a payment license in Brazil.
A payment license in Brazil is BCB authorisation as an instituição de pagamento in one of four modalities - e-money issuer, acquirer, post-paid issuer or payment initiator - with authorisation now mandatory for all of them and, since November 2025, minimum capital set by the activities you run rather than by modality. The prize at the end of the file: direct participation in Pix, the instant rail 215 million people use every day.
30 yrs
of experienceof experience
60+
in-house specialistsspecialists
400+
Licenses obtainedlicenses obtained
Updated · Reviewed by the Prifinance team
Brazil in brief
The Brazil payment license: four modalities, one central bank, and Pix at the end of the file.
Brazil's payments law is Lei 12.865 of 2013, which put payment arrangements and payment institutions under the Banco Central do Brasil, and the BCB's own resolutions fill in the rest: Resolution BCB 80 of March 2021 on authorisation, Resolution 81 on operation, Resolutions 197 to 201 of 2022 on prudential rules for three types of conglomerate, and Resolution 494 of 5 September 2025, which closed the last exemption. An instituição de pagamento is licensed in four modalities - emissor de moeda eletrônica - the e-money licence in Brazil - for prepaid accounts and wallets, credenciador for acquiring, emissor de instrumento pós-pago for credit-type instruments, and iniciador de transação de pagamento for open-finance initiation. Minimum capital changed in November 2025: Joint Resolution BCB/CMN 14 replaced the old floors of Resolution BCB 80 - R$ 2,000,000 for each of the first three modalities and R$ 1,000,000 for an initiator - with a formula based on the activities an institution runs, and the risk-based own-funds requirements by conglomerate type still sit on top, as they have since 2023.
Until 2025, acquirers and post-paid issuers below a volume threshold could operate without authorisation; Resolution 494 ended that. Every modality now needs the BCB's prior authorisation. Unauthorised acquirers and post-paid issuers that had started before 5 September 2025, and unauthorised e-money issuers that had started before March 2021, had to apply between 1 and 31 May 2026; those that missed the window could continue for only thirty days after it. The BCB counted eighty-one authorised payment institutions at the end of 2023 and the queue has grown since. What the licence opens is 215 million people, Pix - the instant system launched in 2020 that authorised institutions join directly - the deepest card-acquiring market in the region and a consumption-tax reform phasing in to 2033. Tax runs about 34% on profit with a 10% withholding on dividends abroad from 2026. The BCB sets no statutory clock; plan on twelve to eighteen months. We build the file from our Americas desk, in Portuguese.
The BCB authorises payment institutions under Lei 12.865/2013 and Res. BCB 80 in four modalities. Capital by activity since Joint Res. 14/2025: R$ 2M per activity category plus activity and technology components; risk-based own funds by conglomerate type (Res. 197). Since Res. 494/2025 every modality is authorised before operating; existing acquirers and post-paid issuers had to file in May 2026.
215 million people, Pix with direct participation, the region's deepest acquiring market. ≈ 34% tax, 10% on dividends from 2026. Twelve to eighteen months realistic. We build in Portuguese from our Americas desk.
The routes
E-money issuer or acquirer - post-paid issuer or initiator.
One authorisation, four modalities, held singly or combined: the e-money issuer and acquirer carry the market, the post-paid issuer and initiator complete it. Since Resolution 494 every one of them is licensed before it operates. We fix the modality first, then build once.
E-money and acquiring - post-paid and initiation.
01 - E-MONEY ISSUER · ACQUIRER
Emissor de moeda eletrônica · credenciador
The modalities behind Brazil's wallets, prepaid accounts and card acceptance. Capital is set by activity - an acquirer counts as both credit and intermediation, an e-money issuer as intermediation - with risk-based own funds by conglomerate type on top, direct Pix participation once authorised, and since 2025 no exemption threshold for acquirers.
The modalities behind Brazil's wallets, prepaid accounts and card acceptance. Capital is set by activity - an acquirer counts as both credit and intermediation, an e-money issuer as intermediation - with risk-based own funds by conglomerate type on top, direct Pix participation once authorised, and since 2025 no exemption threshold for acquirers.
- ✓Prepaid accounts, wallets and e-money issuance
- ✓Acquiring and merchant settlement
- ✓Capital by activity - Joint Res. 14/2025
- ✓Own funds by conglomerate type (Res. 197)
- ✓Direct participation in Pix
- ✓Authorisation before operating - Res. 494/2025
02 - POST-PAID ISSUER · INITIATOR
Credit instruments and open finance - BCBEmissor pós-pago · iniciador (ITP)
The post-paid issuer for credit-type instruments, now authorised before launch like the rest, and the payment initiator for open-finance flows - counted as services, the lightest door into the BCB's perimeter.
Post-paid issuer: credit category; initiator: services, the lightest capital; existing post-paid issuers had to file in May 2026; combinable.
- ✓Post-paid issuer: credit category
- ✓Payment initiation (ITP): services category
- ✓Open-finance initiation flows
- ✓Existing post-paid issuers had to file in May 2026
- ✓Combinable with the other modalities
- ✓Same BCB supervision and reporting
Costs and timelines are confirmed for your case before any work begins. Minimum capital follows Joint Resolution BCB/CMN 14/2025 and Resolution BCB 517/2025, the risk-based requirements Resolutions 197 to 201; the file cost, Pix onboarding and substance are itemised in your quote.
Why Brazil
Pix, 215 million people, and a regulator that publishes everything.
Brazil is the largest destination market in the region and the one whose central bank built the rail everyone uses.
✓
Pix
The BCB's instant system, launched in 2020, is now the most used payment method in the country - and authorised payment institutions participate in it directly, without a bank in between.Direct participation, no bank in between.
✓
Capital by activity
Since Joint Resolution 14/2025 capital follows the activities you run, not the type of institution: R$ 2 million per activity category plus an activity component, so a payment initiator carries the lightest requirement and an acquirer, counted as both credit and intermediation, the heaviest.R$ 2M per category + components.
✓
Everything in resolutions
The BCB legislates in numbered resolutions published on its site - authorisation, operation, prudential rules, Pix - so expectations are readable, not rumoured.Readable, not rumoured.
✓
215 million people
The region's largest consumer market, its deepest acquiring industry and a banking system that has absorbed a decade of fintech - demand a licence serves is present, not projected.The region's largest market.
✓
One perimeter since 2025
Resolution 494 licensed every modality - the unlicensed competitor in acquiring and post-paid issuance is gone, and a licence is the price of admission for everyone.Res. 494 licensed everyone.
✓
Open finance
The BCB's open-finance framework and the initiator modality let a licensee move money from accounts it does not hold - a product line few markets in the world offer at scale.Initiation from accounts you don't hold.
How it compares
How Brazil differs from other routes.
Brazil trades a slow, clockless authorisation for the largest market and the best rail in the region. The honest comparison is below.
Brazil vs other jurisdictions
| Feature |  Brazil | Other jurisdictions |
|---|---|---|
| Instant rail | Pix - direct participation | Bank-sponsored access |
| Capital | By activity: R$ 2M per category + components | Fixed local sums |
| Decision | No statutory clock - 12-18 months | Three-month clocks |
| Market | 215M - the region's largest | Smaller or passport-based |
Instant rail
BrazilPix - direct participation
Other jurisdictionsBank-sponsored access
Capital
BrazilBy activity: R$ 2M per category + components
Other jurisdictionsFixed local sums
Decision
BrazilNo statutory clock - 12-18 months
Other jurisdictionsThree-month clocks
Market
Brazil215M - the region's largest
Other jurisdictionsSmaller or passport-based
Country by country
| Country | License type | Taxation | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Instituição de pagamento (BCB) | ≈34% | Capital by activity · Joint Res. 14/2025 |
 Mexico | IFPE (CNBV) | 30% + PTU 10% | 500k / 700k UDIs · segregation |
 Colombia | SEDPE (SFC) | 35% | COP 5,846M indexed · Fogafín |
 Portugal | PI / EMI (Banco de Portugal) | 20% · SME 16% | €125k PI · €350k EMI · EU passport |
BrazilLicense typeInstituição de pagamento (BCB)
Taxation≈34%
RequirementsCapital by activity · Joint Res. 14/2025
MexicoLicense typeIFPE (CNBV)
Taxation30% + PTU 10%
Requirements500k / 700k UDIs · segregation
ColombiaLicense typeSEDPE (SFC)
Taxation35%
RequirementsCOP 5,846M indexed · Fogafín
PortugalLicense typePI / EMI (Banco de Portugal)
Taxation20% · SME 16%
Requirements€125k PI · €350k EMI · EU passport
The Americas
Payment and EMI licences in neighbouring jurisdictions
EMI and payment licenses in all 109 jurisdictions →
Before you apply
Requirements for a payment license in Brazil: the BCB authorisation file.BCB authorisation requirements.
Resolution BCB 80 lists what the request must contain and the BCB reads it as a supervisor; the craft is a file that answers it in order. The checklist below is what a passing application contains.
01
A Brazilian company - LTDA or S.A. - with its head office in Brazil and payment services as its object, in the modality or modalities requested.
02
Minimum capital under Joint Resolution BCB/CMN 14/2025, kept as both paid-in capital and net equity: R$ 2 million per operational activity category, plus an activity component (R$ 1-7 million per category and R$ 5-8 million for the investment category, times a funding factor of 60-200%), plus R$ 5-10 million for technology-intensive services such as Pix transactional accounts - with the risk-based own-funds requirement of Resolution 197 modelled for the conglomerate type.
03
Controllers and beneficial owners identified with source of funds and financial capacity, and administrators of good repute with the technical qualification the BCB assesses - with a statutory director resident in Brazil.
04
A business plan with projections the BCB can stress: products, volumes, revenue, own funds against the risk-based requirement and the capital plan behind them.
05
Governance and risk management: internal controls, compliance, risk and internal audit functions, an ombudsman and the reporting the BCB expects from a supervised institution.
06
Safeguarding of e-money balances in the form the BCB's rules prescribe - held apart from the institution's own resources and applied only as the regulation allows.
07
AML/CFT framework under Law 9.613 and BCB Circular 3.978: customer due diligence, monitoring, reporting to COAF and a resident compliance officer.
08
Technology and cybersecurity policy under the BCB's rules, business continuity and incident reporting, and the systems to join Pix and other arrangements directly.
09
For unauthorised acquirers and post-paid issuers that had started before 5 September 2025: the authorisation request had to be filed between 1 and 31 May 2026, with only thirty days of operation allowed after the window for those who missed it; institutions already operating on 4 November 2025 reach the new capital minimum in steps until the end of 2027.
10
For unauthorised e-money issuers that had started before 1 March 2021: the same 1-31 May 2026 filing window applied - Resolution 494 revoked the old volume thresholds.
01
Brazilian LTDA/S.A., head office in Brazil.
02
Capital by activity (Joint Res. 14/2025); Res. 197 own funds.
03
Controllers and administrators assessed; resident director.
04
Plan the BCB can stress.
05
Governance, compliance, audit, ombudsman.
06
E-money balances held apart.
07
AML per Law 9.613 / Circular 3.978 (COAF).
08
Cybersecurity, continuity, Pix systems.
09
Existing acquirers/post-paid: filing was due 1-31 May 2026.
10
Older unauthorised e-money issuers: same May 2026 window.
Reflects Lei 12.865/2013, Resolutions BCB 80/2021, 81/2021, 197-201/2022, 494-495/2025 and 517/2025, Joint Resolution BCB/CMN 14/2025 as amended by Joint Resolution 19/2026, and the BCB's Votos 206/2022 and 111/2025, as of October 2026.Lei 12.865/2013; Res. BCB 80, 81, 197-201, 494-495, 517; Joint Res. BCB/CMN 14/2025; Votos 206/2022, 111/2025.
Verify it yourself
Official sources
Regulator pages, legal texts and public registers the figures on this page are based on.
- LawLei nº 12.865/2013 - payment arrangements and institutions (Planalto)planalto.gov.br
- LawJoint Resolution BCB/CMN No. 14/2025 - minimum capital by activity (BCB)bcb.gov.br
- LawResolution BCB No. 517/2025 - activity categories for minimum capital (BCB)bcb.gov.br
- LawResolution BCB No. 494/2025 - authorisation of payment institutions (BCB)bcb.gov.br
How it works
From first call to the BCB register.
01
Modality and strategy
E-money, acquiring, post-paid or initiation - singly or combined - with Pix and arrangement participation planned; the route and budget fixed in writing.Which modalities, Pix plan - in writing.
02
Brazilian company and people
Incorporation, capital evidence at the activity-based minimum and the controllers and administrators the BCB assesses.Incorporation, capital, assessed controllers.
03
The application file
Every item of Resolution 80 answered before filing, with the risk-based own-funds model attached - because the BCB's questions start where the file is thin.Res. 80 plus own-funds model.
04
BCB review
No statutory clock - question rounds answered, the BCB's assessment of controllers and administrators completed; plan on twelve to eighteen months end to end.No clock; 12-18 months.
05
Authorisation and launch
Authorisation published, Pix participation live, arrangements joined - and the reporting calendar running.Published, Pix live, arrangements joined.
Quick facts
RegulatorBanco Central do Brasil
LawLei 12.865/2013 · Res. BCB 80
ModalitiesE-money · acquirer · post-paid · ITP
Minimum capitalBy activity · Joint Res. 14/2025
PrudentialRes. 197 · conglomerate types
AuthorisationAll modalities · Res. 494/2025
Timeline12-18 months realistic
Corporate tax≈ 34% · dividends 10%
The BCB publishes its rules and sets no clock. The file that answers Resolution 80 in order - with the own-funds model attached - is what keeps the review to a year, and our job.
Your Brazil desk
Run from our Americas desk, in Portuguese.
Prifinance - Americas desk
Madeira (Portugal) · coordinating Brazilian mandates in Portuguese
Rua da Alegria 31, 1F, Madeira
01
Brazilian company formation
LTDA or S.A. incorporation, capital to the activity-based minimum and the corporate layer the BCB expects - structured for the authorisation from day one.LTDA/S.A., capital, corporate layer.
02
The BCB file
Business plan, own-funds model by conglomerate type, governance, safeguarding and AML documentation to Resolution 80 - drafted by us and defended through the question rounds.Resolution 80 answered in order.
03
Pix and arrangements
Direct Pix participation and the card-arrangement memberships scoped with the licence so the institution launches on the rails it needs.Rails scoped with the licence.
04
Substance in Brazil
A resident statutory director, compliance officer and ombudsman, and premises in São Paulo - the presence the BCB supervises, recruited from the region's deepest payments talent pool.Resident director, São Paulo premises.
We also have offices in
Vilnius
Lithuania
Gedimino pr. 2
Prague
Czech Republic
Vlkova 532/8, Žižkov
London
United Kingdom
7 Bell Yard
Dubai
UAE
33 Level, Al Saqr Business Tower
Budapest
Hungary
Korányi Sándor u. 4
Istanbul
Turkey
Perpa Ticaret Merkezi, A Blok
Good to know
Taxation of payment companies in Brazil.
A headline near 34%, a 10% withholding on dividends abroad from 2026, revenue-based social contributions and a consumption-tax reform phasing in to 2033 - a stack to plan around.
Corporate tax ≈ 34%
IRPJ at 15% plus a 10% surtax above the threshold and CSLL at 9% - about 34% on a payment institution's profit under the real-profit regime.IRPJ + surtax + CSLL.
Dividends 10%
The old zero on dividends is gone - 10% withholding on dividends paid abroad from 2026, planned into the group structure rather than discovered.Abroad, from 2026.
PIS/COFINS on revenue
Social contributions on gross revenue, cumulative or non-cumulative by regime - the fee model is built with them in mind.On gross revenue.
IBS/CBS reform
Brazil's dual VAT replaces the old consumption taxes in stages to 2033 - a licensee launching now plans for both systems.Reform to 2033.
ISS on services
The municipal service tax on fee income at the city's rate - São Paulo's is the one most licensees pay.Municipal, on services.
Payroll
The thirteenth salary, FGTS and INSS make Brazilian payroll cost well above headline salaries - the operating budget prices it in.13th salary, FGTS, INSS.
Tax summary
Corporate tax≈ 34% (IRPJ + CSLL)
Dividend withholding10% abroad from 2026
PIS/COFINSOn gross revenue
Consumption taxIBS/CBS · transition to 2033
ISSMunicipal · on services
Tax treaties35+
*Figures as of 2026 per the Receita Federal. Regime choice and reform transition are assessed per structure.
Turnkey professional support
Experienced lawyers and international consultants.
We provide end-to-end support, from company registration and the application file to regulatory interaction and compliance oversight - with an individualized approach to each client.
Oleksii Kindratenko
Builds the application itself: Brazilian LTDA or S.A., AML/KYC policy pack, capital structure and tax registrations. His document sets are the reason reviews finish in months, not years.
Eugeniu Bevziuc
First point of contact for international founders. Runs the whole setup remotely, across time zones and languages - from the first call to a live, licensed institution.
Follow Prifinance
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Brazil · Banco Central
Get your payment license in Brazil with expert support.
Full-service assistance - from incorporation to the BCB authorisation, Pix participation, own-funds modelling and ongoing compliance.
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Our legal team will analyze your case at no cost and provide a written legal opinion: which jurisdiction, licence scope, or route fits your business.
Written assessment within 2-5 business days
Request a free conclusion →FAQ
The Brazilian payment licence, answered.
What licence does a payment business need in Brazil?+
Authorisation by the Banco Central do Brasil as an instituição de pagamento under Lei 12.865/2013 and Resolution BCB 80, in one or more of four modalities: e-money issuer, acquirer, post-paid instrument issuer or payment transaction initiator. Since Resolution 494 of September 2025, every modality needs authorisation before it operates.
How much capital is required?+
Since Joint Resolution BCB/CMN 14 of 3 November 2025 it depends on the activities, not on the modality: R$ 2 million per category of operational activity, plus an activity component (R$ 1 million for services, R$ 5 million for intermediation, R$ 7 million for credit and similar exposure (concessão) and R$ 5 or 8 million for the investment category, multiplied by a funding factor from 60% to 200%), plus R$ 5-10 million for technology-intensive services such as Pix transactional accounts. Resolution BCB 517 counts an acquirer as both credit and intermediation, an e-money issuer as intermediation and an initiator as services. Worked example at the lowest settings - own funds (60% factor) and the restricted investment category (R$ 5 million) - and with no technology services: R$ 14.2 million for an acquirer, R$ 8 million for an e-money issuer, R$ 5.6 million for an initiator. The categories follow what the regulation permits, so confirm them before you capitalise. Institutions already operating on 4 November 2025 keep the old minimum until 30 June 2026 and then phase in until the end of 2027, and the risk-based own funds of Resolution 197 sit on top.
How long does the BCB take?+
The BCB sets no statutory decision period for payment institutions. With the assessment of controllers and administrators and question rounds, plan on twelve to eighteen months end to end; a file that answers Resolution 80 in order is the lever.
What changed in 2025?+
Resolution 494 removed the volume exemption for acquirers and post-paid issuers. Every modality is now authorised before operating. Unauthorised acquirers and post-paid issuers that had started before 5 September 2025, and unauthorised e-money issuers that had started before 1 March 2021, had to apply between 1 and 31 May 2026; an institution that missed the window could continue only until thirty days after 31 May.
Can a payment institution join Pix?+
Yes - authorised payment institutions participate in Pix directly, alongside banks, which is the commercial reason most groups license here rather than ride a bank's access.
How are client funds protected?+
E-money balances are held apart from the institution's own resources and applied only as the BCB's rules allow, with prudential own-funds requirements by conglomerate type under Resolutions 197 to 201 on top.
How are payment companies taxed?+
About 34% on profit (IRPJ plus CSLL), PIS/COFINS on gross revenue, municipal ISS on services, and 10% withholding on dividends paid abroad from 2026 - with the IBS/CBS consumption-tax reform phasing in to 2033.
What substance does the BCB expect?+
A Brazilian company run from Brazil: a resident statutory director, compliance officer and ombudsman, real premises, controllers and administrators who pass the BCB's assessment, and the licensed activity performed in the country.
Does the licence passport anywhere?+
No - Brazil is a destination licence for its own market. Portuguese-speaking groups often pair it with a Portuguese EU licence; Spanish-speaking ones with Mexico or Colombia. We sequence them.
Why Brazil rather than Mexico?+
Brazil is the larger market with the better rail - Pix - and a regulator that publishes every rule; Mexico is the US remittance corridor with a statute written for fintech. Groups serving both hold both, and the Americas desk builds each in its own language.
How do I get a payment institution licence from the BCB?+
Incorporate the Brazilian company, choose the modality or modalities - e-money issuer, acquirer, post-paid issuer, payment initiator - and pay in the minimum capital Joint Resolution 14/2025 sets for your activities plus the risk-based own funds Resolution 197 sets for your conglomerate type. Then file the authorisation request under Resolution BCB 80: business plan and projections, description of the payment arrangement and services, governance and controlling shareholders, AML/CFT framework, IT and cybersecurity policies and the safeguarding of client funds. The BCB sets no statutory clock; plan on 12-18 months, and since Resolution 494/2025 no modality may operate before authorisation.
Which licence?+
BCB instituição de pagamento in one of four modalities.
Capital?+
By activity (Joint Res. 14/2025): e.g. R$ 14.2M for an acquirer at the lowest factors; plus Res. 197.
How long?+
No clock; 12-18 months.
2025 change?+
Res. 494: all modalities authorised; filing was due May 2026.
Pix?+
Direct participation once authorised.
Client funds?+
Held apart per BCB rules; own funds by type.
Taxes?+
≈ 34%, PIS/COFINS, ISS, dividends 10%.
Substance?+
Resident director, compliance, ombudsman.
Passport?+
No - destination licence.
vs Mexico?+
Bigger market, Pix, published rules.
How to get it?+
Brazilian company, capital by activity + Res. 197 own funds, Res. 80 file; 12-18 months.
Client notes
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Prifinance is an independent law and advisory firm. We are not a regulator and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Banco Central do Brasil or any other public authority. Authorisations are granted by, and obtained directly from, the competent authorities.