“We agree with the objective of eliminating or substantially reducing cash in the economy, to do so (we must) reduce commissions, improve digital payments and make Mexico digitalize,” said Romano after signing an agreement with the Mexican Council of the Consumer Products Industry.
Romano said that the point in the discussion was that the authorities recognize that card issuers are important for the country because they help the digitalization of the economy.
Cofece warned a couple of years ago that the exchange fees in Mexico (which are those charged by terminals and aggregators) are among the highest in the world with an average of 1.36%, while in other countries this fee is 0.2% on average.
However, data from Banco de México highlights that credit card interchange fees reach up to 1.91% of the total payment, while for debit cards the fees reach up to 1.15%.
The proposal from Banxico and the CNBV aims for interchange fees to be 0.6% for payments with credit cards and 0.3% for debit cards.
These exchange fees are those that the union represented by Romano seeks to lower but gradually and even at a zero rate for new participants.
“Digital banking, which is just beginning to be authorized, is reaching the market and has certain levels of commissions that are very important to maintain because if not we can concentrate the country’s credit card market,” he said.
Therefore, the bankers’ counterproposal is to adjust the exchange fee to 0.6% 0.3%, but gradually; In addition, it is sought that there be a zero rate for new businesses.
“We are putting on the table that for new establishments that are not banked today, we can give them the zero rate permanently.”
