The Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU) announced that, as of September 1, merchants and service providers will have all the payment options for debit and credit cards through a single provider of their preference. The president of the entity, Diego Labat, explained that this system will facilitate access, since with a single contract all companies are included.
The manager of the BCU Payment System, Ana Claudia de los Heros, and the vice president of the institution, Washington Ribeiro, also participated in the conference.
In the activity, the state bank reported that, as of September 1, the process called “multiacquisition” will be completed, which enables businesses to have a single contract with all debit, credit and electronic money cards. from Mastercard and Visa.
Labat explained that, with this action that is beginning to be established, it is sought that those companies that offer the payment system allow a single company to give access to all means. “Until now, when a business wanted to offer different credit cards, it had to sign a contract with the representative of each of the brands. With this new system, access is facilitated, since with a single contract all companies are included, “said the hierarch.
In addition, he said that Mastercard has already operated this way since the second half of 2021 and that Visa will also do so from tomorrow. He added that he hopes there will be more competition, which will benefit merchants and ultimately consumers.
He also welcomed the fact that each entrepreneur has the freedom to choose the provider with which he wishes to work and added that he hopes that the impact will be in a greater number of services or added value that the acquiring firms grant to businesses and not so much in price competition.
From the BCU it is recommended to evaluate the new conditions of the offers and it is expected that this progress will allow moving towards a greater efficiency of the payment system, similar to the results obtained in other countries.
To reach this opening stage, the companies in the market were the protagonists of a process of dialogue and adaptation of their technology, promoted by the BCU, which began with the implementation of the Roadmap for the Payment System in Uruguay that the entity implemented in 2020.
