Boleto

 

Boleto Bancário, commonly known as Boleto, is a bank-issued payment voucher regulated by the Brazilian Banks Federation and one of the most established payment methods in Brazil. At checkout, the merchant generates a Boleto with a barcode and a numeric payment line. The customer then pays it at a bank branch, ATM, post office, lottery agent, supermarket, or via online banking, up until the expiry date. Funds are typically cleared within one to three business days after payment.

Boleto’s primary relevance is for Brazilian consumers who are unbanked, credit-card averse, or simply prefer offline payment flows. While its overall share of Brazilian e-commerce has declined significantly with the rapid rise of Pix, Boleto still accounts for close to one in five e-commerce payments in Brazil and remains a meaningful method for certain segments, particularly higher-value purchases, B2B transactions, and consumers without access to cards or instant payment infrastructure.

From a merchant operations perspective, the settlement delay and pending order management challenge are similar to other voucher-based methods: a share of customers who generate a Boleto will never complete the payment. Order fulfilment workflows need to account for this, and inventory holds require careful management around expiry times.

On cost, Boleto transaction fees are lower than card processing in Brazil, which makes it attractive from a cost-per-transaction perspective. However, the non-completion rate needs to be factored into the true cost calculation.

One important distinction for merchants evaluating Brazil: Pix has become the dominant payment method in the country, processing over 6.2 billion transactions monthly as of early 2025. For any merchant entering the Brazilian market or reviewing their Brazilian payment mix, Pix should be the primary focus, with Boleto maintained as a complementary option for the segments where it still converts. Most PSPs offering Brazil coverage support both methods.

Relevant markets: Brazil