What it takes to be authorized as a Payment Initiator
Institutions like Itaú, Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, BTG and Mercado Pago are already authorized, and many others are in the authorization or homologation process.
The Payment Initiator (ITP) enables a new flow for Pix transfers, in which institutions can move money from a third-party account at the user's request and with their consent.
Major financial institutions like Itaú Unibanco, Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, BTG Pactual and Mercado Pago are already authorized to implement the Payment Initiation solution. But how does the regulatory process to operate in this modality work, and who's behind it? As with Pix and Open Finance Brasil, Banco Central do Brasil (BC) also leads the regulation of Payment Initiation services.
Beyond traditional payment institutions like the ones above, there are also pure-play initiators that become institutions specifically to operate as Payment Initiators, bringing more competition to the market. To do so, they need to request authorization from Banco Central to become a payment institution under modality IV — the Payment Initiator.
That said, the business must meet the basic requirements set by the BC, including:
- being incorporated as a limited or joint-stock company;
- having as its main corporate purpose at least one of the activities listed in art. 6, item III, of Law 12,865 of October 9, 2013;
- including the phrase "instituição de pagamento" in its corporate name;
- paying in and maintaining a minimum capital of R$ 1 million;
- implementing a documented governance policy kept available to Banco Central and reviewed every two years, among other requirements.
After getting BC authorization to operate as a Payment Initiator, the institution must complete homologation with the Pix arrangement as a Payment Initiator participant, plus homologation with the Open Finance Directory — meaning compliance with these regulations on the technology and structural side as well.
The institution must also hold the Financial-grade API (FAPI) Relying Parties certification from the OpenID Foundation, the international standards body responsible for the security model of Open Finance Brasil, and acquire the necessary certificates.
Finally, the institution enters the production onboarding phase, in which it must validate its technology with other institutions (account-holding institutions) to go fully into production.
A solution for becoming a Payment Initiator (ITP)
To bring your institution to market faster and participate in Open Finance Brasil as a Payment Initiator, you can count on Iniciador — a software platform focused on Open Payments so your team can stay focused on its core business.
We're specialists in Payment Initiation (ITP). Our platform has technology certified by the OpenID Foundation and is compliant with Banco Central do Brasil regulations, the Pix arrangement and the Open Finance Directory rules. Want to know more? Talk to us.