If 2025 was the year when instant payments really began to dominate the Latin American payment ecosystem (Pix in Brazil overtook cash as the most used payment method), then 2026 will be the year for those who can combine this lightning-fast power with enhanced automation and personalisation. The result will be a more user-centric payment experience for iGaming consumers, online investors, and e-commerce customers. For merchants in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, the winners will be companies that use data to offer the right payment method to the right user at the right time — turning the checkout and deposit but also withdrawal page from a functional step into a competitive advantage.
With this scenario in mind, OKTO PAYMENTS top 5 payment predictions for Latin America in 2026:
1. The Rise of Recurring Instant Payments
The convenience of recurring billing is no longer exclusive to credit cards. In 2026, the global payments specialized fintech sees a massive move towards automated instant payment systems.
- Brazil: The adoption of Biometric Pix and Pix Automático will skyrocket. Biometric Pix, in particular, will play a critical role in high-demand digital environments such as e-commerces, trading and sports betting platforms, where frictionless authentication and instant confirmation are essential. When it comes to Pix Automatico, automating recurring bills like utilities, gym memberships, and streaming, it eliminates the friction of manual monthly transfers. Merchants, too, can expect to benefit from lower churn and higher collection rates.
- Argentina & Chile: While Brazil leads with Pix, Argentinian banks’ increasing adoption of Pix for tourism and cross-border is in response to great user demand, which could see recurring payments added as part of an expanded service. In Chile, TEF (Transferencia Electrónica de Fondos) continues to grow, and the Central Bank remains committed to improving this technology, which could include recurring payment options in the near future.
2. Tokenization Sets a New Standard for Security and Asset Liquidity
Tokenization will take centre stage for LatAm banks as it moves from an experimental feature to part of the digital backbone of the financial system. By replacing sensitive data with unique digital identifiers (tokens), the industry is closing the gap on fraud while unlocking trillions in value.
- Impact on Security: Both Visa and Mastercard are reporting massive security benefits from tokenization. For example, transactions processed with tokens show a 30-40% lower fraud rate compared to traditional raw card numbers.
- Brazil as a Regional Leader: According to the Brazil Tokenization Report 2025, Brazil’s ecosystem matured rapidly in 2025, with over US$ 1 billion in tokenized assets and more than 60% of platforms operating under CVM (Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil) licenses.
- 2026 Expansion: Times Brasil predicts that the tokenization of assets — ranging from stablecoins to real estate and titles — will reach trillions of dollars in moved value. This technology allows for “near real-time” settlement and the ability to use fractionalized assets (like tokenized stocks) for everyday payments, bypassing the bureaucracy of traditional IPOs and liquidation periods.
3. Instant Payments Continue to Dominate our Transactions
2026 will be the year instant payments officially become the majority shareholder of the LatAm consumer’s wallet.
- Brazil: OKTO PAYMENTS predict Pix will account for over 50% of all payments in the country, with new features such as automatic, contactless and installments turning it into the primary commercial engine for both physical and online retail.
- Argentina: While they may not pass 50%, Argentina’s QR code payments are rapidly eating into cash dominance, likely crossing the 40% threshold of digital transactions in 2026. In parallel, A2A (account-to-account) deposits are gaining traction in digital platforms, offering faster settlement, lower costs, and a strong alternative to cards for deposits and withdrawals.
- Chile: Instant transfers via TEF and QR-based solutions continue to gain ground, especially in e-commerce and digital services. As interoperability improves and user familiarity increases, instant bank transfers are expected to become a central payment method for both deposits and payouts across online platforms.
4. Payment Orchestration Becomes Mandatory for E-Commerce
For Mid-Market and Enterprise e-commerce, the cost of a failed transaction will become too high to ignore. In Brazil alone, e-commerce loses up to R$150 billion annually due to payment failures and friction.
By 2026, Payment Orchestration will be mandatory for any business looking to scale. This will allow merchants to:
- Route payments through multiple processors to ensure the highest success rate.
- Automatically switch providers if one goes down.
- Manage various local payment methods (Pix and its variations, local cards) through a single integration.
5. Hyper-Personalization and the End of One Size Fits All
The final frontier of 2026 is the user experience. Consumers are no longer satisfied with a standard checkout. Instead, they want a payment experience that remembers their preferences.
According to OKTO PAYMENTS’ latest research data, there is a significant ‘Expectation Gap’ that merchants must bridge:
- Currently, 52% of Brazilian consumers feel merchants do not adapt payment methods to their preferences.
- This sentiment is echoed across the Southern Cone, with 40.4% in Argentina and 45.9% in Chile (a combined average of 46.5% for the region) demanding more tailored experiences.
In 2026, the competitive edge in Latin America will no longer come from offering instant payments alone, but from orchestrating them intelligently. This “Playing Differently” shift is already visible across most online platforms, where payment friction has a measurable impact: more than 80% of Brazilian users abandon a transaction if it takes longer than one minute.
About OKTO PAYMENTS
OKTO PAYMENTS is the next-generation Payment Service Provider – AI-native, precision-engineered, and relentlessly merchant-obsessed. Built for merchants operating in the most complex and demanding eCommerce sectors, our platform does far more than process transactions. We solve for scale, compliance, and performance — with one unshakable focus: delivering outcomes that powers merchants growth.
From payments and banking to treasury and settlement, we engineer the financial infrastructure that gives our partners an edge. The result? Faster onboarding, smarter operations, and resilient, real-time performance.
At OKTO PAYMENTS, we enable merchants to Play Differently, transforming payments from routine transactions into genuine differentiators that create personalized, frictionless payment experiences for their customers.
Our AI-native innovation harnesses data and insight to power every decision, while our proprietary, in-house engineering ensures precision and control. Combined with deep, trust-based relationships across the globe, we’re redefining what it means to build, scale, and win in complex and demanding digital commerce.
