Registered Boleto Bancário: the impact for clients and merchants

Federação Brasileira de Bancos (FEBRABAN), the Brazilian Federation of Banks, is about to complete the introduction of new rules that change its highly popular Boleto Bancário payment scheme. The new registered Boleto Bancário allows clients to pay after the due date – if the merchant desires.

FEBRABAN, which represents 126 banks in Brazil, has introduced a compulsory registration scheme as part of efforts intended to reduce fraud and boost payment rates. This is particularly important for our merchant clients, as banks are only the intermediaries in this process and it is the beneficiary company that issues the Boleto that would ultimately bear the losses associated with fraud.

What are the new changes?

Previously, anyone could issue a Boleto and the issuing bank would first become aware of the Boleto only when it was presented for payment. Currently, it is mandatory to register Boletos worth more than R$2.000 (around 3.7% of all issued Boletos). The registration will become compulsory for all Boletos in 2018, although the precise date has yet to be confirmed.

This move means that a Boleto can still be paid after it is due at any bank, without needing to issue a new one – if the merchants so desire. This is made possible as registered Boletos will be fed into the banking system automatically so that consumers logging into their internet banking accounts can see, select and confirm Boletos for payment online.

Although there will be no charge for the payer for the issue of a Boleto, the new scheme could result in higher charges for issuing organizations as rates will need to be agreed with their financial institutions.

What is the impact for merchants and clients?

While Brazilian banks can apply fees for issuing, changing and canceling registered Boletos, allpago will enable organizations issuing Boletos through its platform to do so free of charge.

Our integrations with all relevant banks have been updated to reflect the regulations being introduced by FEBRABAN so that our merchants will meet these new requirements and remain compliant. Existing clients will benefit from this update immediately without having to update their integration.

Our complete support for the Boleto payment method is also available to clients of ACI Worldwide that access allpago’s platform through the PAY.ON Payments Gateway.

Approximately 3.7 billion Boleto vouchers are sold every year in Brazil for the sale of goods and services. This New Platform and the rules that accompany it are intended to modernize the process of creating and clearing Boletos, providing greater control and security to issuing organizations, and more comfort and convenience to users.

This modernization represents the biggest change to the Boleto system since the payment bills were first introduced in 1993. We are confident that the changes we have made to the allpago platform will ensure it remains a popular and convenient method for Brazilians to buy from international merchants, and that our clients will continue to enjoy the access we offer to this popular local payment method and stay on the right side of the regulatory authorities.

About allpago

allpago is a leading payment service provider for Latin America, enabling e-commerce merchants and payment providers to accept all relevant local payment methods through a single platform and API. allpago’s state-of-the-art technology and regulatory knowledge are used by merchants including Art.com, BMW, Getty Images, McAfee, Paylogic, Symantec and Teamviewer to maximize conversion rates and ensure compliant transactions with customers in Latin America, and as a ‘last mile’ payment interface by leading payment companies around the world such as Zuora, ACI Worldwide and Wirecard.