Challenge
Banco Central do Brasil committed to improving the visibility of the Pix brand across a diverse ecosystem of digital providers and digital and physical merchants while ensuring consistency.
Approach
Banco Central do Brasil offers participants a thoughtful set of brand guidelines, laid out in a set of 46 slides. The guidelines specify brand attributes (e.g., allowable colors, capitalization, and logo sizing) and required usage (e.g., where the Pix logo must be visible to users in the digital transaction flow). Brand goes beyond the name and the logo; the central bank offers sample verbiage to be used in describing both the Pix service (e.g., “fast”, “simple”, etc.) and the associated alias (e.g., “safe”, “portable”, etc.).
The Pix brand guidelines also stipulate that the Pix logo be shown on the main screen of the app and be the same size as logos for other payment types. This is key to users being able to easily understand where and how to make a Pix payment in any app they choose.
Flexibility: One notable attribute of the Pix brand guidelines is that the logo can be adapted to the color Scheme of the app in which Pix is being offered, as illustrated above. This essence of the Pix logo remains and is recognizable, while being consistent with the DFSP colors. But guardrails remain: any variant logo must be based on the official files provided by the central bank. As shown below, material variants of the Pix logo are not allowed, even if they might better match a DFSP’s individual brand.
These requirements allow for a consistent experience that increases trust in the Inclusive IPS. When end-users know what they can expect from a digital transaction experience, regardless of provider.
Physical Merchants: Don’t Let the Logo Get Dirty!
Image Source: Banco Central do Brasil’s Pix brand guidelines
The Pix brand guidelines extend to the physical point of sale, like at the hot dog cart shown above. Merchants may receive a placard displaying the Pix logo alongside their QR code from a merchant service provider. In such cases, the brand guidelines remind merchants with physical locations to display the Pix logo prominently, to avoid placing it somewhere that might “deteriorate” the brand, and to clean the logo if it gets dirty. So, for example, if the hot dog cooks splatter grease on their list of accepted payment methods, they should wipe it off.
Results
The establishment of a universal brand is essential for users (payers and recipients) — in a clear and unambiguous way — to identify the new way of making/receiving payments and transfers. Therefore, visual identity will facilitate the understanding and adoption of the functionality.
Manual de Uso da Marca, Banco Central do Brasil
Pix’s brand is well-recognized in Brazil and associated with a trustworthy, innovative payments ecosystem.