In collaboration with IPA and the Central Bank of Brazil, researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to assess whether providing targeted information on the benefits of a secure financial data sharing platform increases its adoption among small firms.

The Challenge

New digital payment technologies have the potential to benefit both consumers and firms. Pix, Brazil’s digital payment system, has quickly achieved near-universal adoption, transforming how consumers and small firms make and receive payments. Beyond convenience, Pix also generates hard information on firms’ transactions—verifiable data that can help reduce barriers to finance by giving lenders a clearer picture of entrepreneurs’ cash flows.

However, if this valuable data remains concentrated within only one or two large banks, it risks reinforcing their market power and limiting competition. To address this concern, the Central Bank of Brazil launched Open Finance, an initiative that enables individuals and firms to securely share their financial data across multiple institutions. By broadening access to financial information, Open Finance aims to promote competition, expand credit opportunities, and deepen financial inclusion. Yet, despite its potential, pilot evidence shows that Open Finance adoption among small firms remains very low, raising important questions about how best to encourage participation.

The Evaluation

In collaboration with IPA and the Central Bank of Brazil, researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to assess whether providing targeted information on the benefits of Open Finance increases its adoption among small firms. The intervention includes 1,170 firms, each of which completed a survey at the outset on topics such as Pix usage, bank account ownership, and awareness of Open Finance. Firms were grouped based on geographic location and randomly assigned to one of two arms:

• Comparison group: viewed a video highlighting the benefits of financial inclusion.
• Intervention group: viewed an extended version of the same video that also explained the benefits of adopting Open Finance and securely sharing data across financial institutions.

Researchers will measure Open Finance adoption, explore motivations for adoption, and identify the financial institutions used. They will also track Pix usage patterns—including transaction type, volume, and value—as well as the use of other digital payment methods to assess changes in payment behavior.

Results

Results will be available in 2025.

Sources

^1,2. Central Bank of Brazil, Relatório de Economia Bancária 2021, accessed April 15, 2024 

Partner