You can use cash, debit cards, and credit cards to pay for goods in Brazilian stores, and there’s also a payment system where you do Pix on the spot. Pix is a system for instantly transferring funds between bank accounts used in Brazil. You pay using your smartphone or the like.
Since last year, I have been told more and more often when paying at stores, "The Cashback for these purchases will be XX reais.”

The exact English word "cashback" is also used in Brazil. “Cashback” means the return of part of a product’s purchase price to consumers who meet certain conditions.
When I bought some hand soap the other day, 10% of the price was Cashback. A message reaches your cell phone within minutes after the purchase.
“You’ve got a bonus of 5.84 reais for the next purchase and it’s valid from February 20 to April 4 (on the condition that the amount of your next purchase is R$ 19.47 or higher.)”
The 10% Cashback is surprisingly appealing. Considering that inflation in Brazil was 4.83% in 2024, it seems to have some merit.

A number of credit companies started up the Cashback system in the U.S. in 1980. The system is said to have been introduced to Brazil after it became better known in late 2010. Although it started as a benefit only for consumers buying online, by 2019, some 6.4 million stores introduced the Cashback system.
The Cashback system now accepts not only credit cards used for online shopping, but even debit cards and Pix. You can also use it for in-store shopping.
How much Cashback you get back depends on the store, but it is between 1 and 15%.
The benefits that stores and businesses get from adopting the Cashback system are thought to be increases in sales and consumers’ level of satisfaction. For the consumer’s part, even if there is no discount on the product, they will still feel the benefit of having gotten the goods at a lower price, if they get Cashback. However, you have to be careful because the allowable period for using Cashback differs from store to store and that period is short. You might end up buying something you don’t think you really need, just because you want to use Cashback, so I think the decision you make at the time becomes more important.

Talking about my own experience, I bought 2 clothing items at a store and they let me pay for them in 3 installments with my credit card. The Cashback I got when I bought the clothes had to be used within a month, so I ended up going back to the store and buying something else even though I had still not paid for the first item in full. At the time, I suddenly wondered if it would have been better not to purchase 2 items at the same time. So, recently I have been asking in advance if they offer a Cashback system.

Then I suddenly wondered, "Would it have been better not to buy both items at the same time?" and recently I have decided to ask beforehand if they use the Cashback system.
If you stick to using Cashback, you might end up continuing to buy some or other items at that store for a while. In the case of a store where you only occasionally make purchases, it might be better to get the discount on the spot.
I have ended up being wasteful for the sake of some Cashback happiness. How about you?