ECB Confirms Preliminary Investigation Into Linking TIPS With Brazil's Pix

Brazil's instant payment system has entered a formal Eurosystem assessment as a candidate for a central bank-to-central bank cross-border connection. The review covers legal, technical, security and operational questions and is due to close this month, ahead of a reported four-stage path that would reach a working trial in mid-2028.

The European Central Bank is exploring a potential interlinking between its TARGET Instant Payment Settlement platform and the Central Bank of Brazil's Pix platform. Reuters reported on September 3, 2026 that technical teams at the ECB and Banco Central do Brasil are assessing whether the systems can be interconnected.

An ECB document obtained by Folha de S. Paulo places Pix in a pre-investigation phase covering legal, technical, security and operational issues, with that review expected to wrap up in September 2026. The reported sequence then runs exploration from October 2026 to March 2027, a possible implementation phase from April 2027 to June 2028, and an operational pilot pencilled in for June 2028.

The Central Bank of Brazil declined to comment. That leaves the September review as the next decision point in the sequence.