PIX's participant roster entered sustained contraction in the second half of 2025. The count declined from a peak of 934 entities in June 2025 to 916 by February 2026. The decline follows BCB Resolution 429, which requires all non-authorized payment institutions to obtain formal BCB authorization within prescribed windows based on their PIX entry date. Institutions that joined between July and December 2024 must file authorization requests during 2026. The original December 2026 filing window was accelerated under Resolution 429.
A separate March 4, 2026 deadline required indirect PIX participants to migrate to compliant intermediaries. Thirty-nine institutions completed the migration successfully. Up to 31 remained non-compliant and face potential exclusion. Resolution 546, published January 22, 2026, imposed additional restrictions on non-authorized participants. These institutions and those connecting through PSTI intermediaries face a R$15,000 per-transaction cap. Responsible Participant status is now limited to S1 through S4 segment institutions that are both direct SPI participants and transactional account providers.
Since January 1, 2026, all PIX participants offering transactional accounts must maintain minimum share capital and net equity of BRL 5 million. PIX processes over 230 million transactions daily across the current participant base. The combined effect is a smaller but more formally regulated network, following a growth phase in which BCB prioritized broad access to achieve critical mass before raising prudential standards.