Indecopi reported that it identified that changes to payment acceptance services for foreign e-commerce could make services more expensive and would end up negatively impacting Peruvian consumers.
The Commission for the Defense of Free Competition (CLC) of Indecopi issued the report called “Report on the market for payment acceptance services to foreign businesses” on the scope of the programs that Visa and Mastercard have been implementing to make payments in foreign electronic businesses such as Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, gambling and betting houses, among others, which have a presence in several countries, but do not have an address in Peru.
He specified that the study analyzes Visa’s EMLP (Expanded Merchant Location Program) and Mastercard’s PIFO (Payment Intermediary Foreign Exchange Operators) programs, whose implementations were announced at the beginning of the year.
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“For acquirers, payment facilitators and the e-commerce union of Peru, the Visa and Mastercard programs include charges that will impact the costs of payment acceptance services provided to foreign e-commerce, which could mean price increases that consumers pay in global merchants or could lead them to choose to use the payment acceptance services of an acquirer or payment facilitator in their jurisdiction”, the report reads.
In this sense, the CLC considered that the EMLP and PIFO programs would present advantages over the traditional ‘cross-border’ or cross-border scheme, which should be reflected in the costs of participation and encourage competition, an aspect that would result in a better service for businesses. and consumers in Peru.
“Maintaining adequate control of the potential risks of fraud, chargebacks, money laundering and financing of terrorism (LA/TF), sale of illegal goods, data protection, among others, that may arise in card payments, whether these transactions are domestic or international”, indicated the governing body.
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Given this scenario, Indecopi recommended the following measures. First, that card brands can review the costs of their programs.
Meanwhile, a second point that involves and considers the role of the different participants in the proper assessment of risks in transactions with foreign businesses.
In addition, he highlighted that the recommendations proposed by the CLC are consistent with the interest and objective of the Visa and Mastercard brands to promote the participation of acquirers and payment facilitators in Peru in their programs, the efficiency and security of payments, to benefit of businesses and consumers.
