All the Answers
Well-known member
More advances in digital payments: all wallets must work with cards in all QR readers - Infobae
Source:
Más avances en los pagos digitales: todas las billeteras deberán funcionar con tarjeta en todos los lectores QR
Tras el acuerdo entre los bancos y Mercado Pago celebrado ayer, el BCRA avanzó en la interoperabilidad para los pagos QR con tarjeta. Se fijó una comisión en base al pedido de los bancos
www.infobae.com
May 31, 2024
Following the agreement between the banks and Mercado Pago celebrated yesterday, the BCRA made progress in interoperability for QR card payments. A commission was set based on the banks' request
By Fernando Meaños
Until now, Mercado Pago QR readers accepted card payments only if it was loaded in a branded wallet, rejecting other apps. The BCRA ended that exclusivity
The Central Bank took a new step to advance the total interoperability of QR payments with credit, debit and prepaid cards , in the same way that it has been happening for almost three years with QR payments made with transfer. Once the mechanism is implemented, all virtual wallets that have cards loaded must be interoperable , that is, they will have to be used to pay in all QR readers, regardless of the respective brands.
The BCRA also decided on a key piece of information: the commission to pay. It was decided that the card issuer would pay the wallet a commission of 0.07% of the transaction amount . That is to say: if the user pays with QR using their bank card loaded in the Mercado Pago wallet, the bank that issued the card will pay a commission of 7 pesos for every $10,000 spent to Mercado Pago. That level of commission was what the banks had offered from the beginning of the negotiation, compared to a higher number requested by the fintech. The BCRA adopted the position of the banks.
The news came a day after Mercado Pago and Modo, the app shared by 36 banks, sealed an agreement to launch the interoperability of QR payments with cards, after almost two years of conflict and the BCRA ordering it for last April 30. As Infobae announced , the agreement included how to handle cases of fraud and another key point: Mercado Libre's aspiration to apply a 0.3% acquisition fee when Modo or another wallet was used in its QR readers was eliminated.
The Central Bank stated that it promotes “an open, competitive and interoperable digital payments ecosystem, which promotes greater financial inclusion and simplifies the user experience"
Until now, in fact, the QR readers of the 500,000 businesses throughout the country installed by Mercado Pago accept card payments only if it is loaded in a Mercado Pago wallet, rejecting other wallets from which they only accept transfers . A BCRA rule had ended that exclusivity as of April 30.
But this regulation of interoperability, until now, was “asymmetric.” That is to say: it forced all QR readers to accept card payments from any wallet, but it does not force all wallets to be usable in all QRs. In this way, Mercado Pago could assert its domain through its network of millions and millions of wallet users. And until now, it had not moved its tokens so that its wallet customers can pay by card at other companies' QR readers.
But all that changed since yesterday . The new BCRA rule ended this asymmetry. And Mercado Pago confirmed that "it will carry out the necessary developments to offer its users the possibility of paying in third-party QR codes with credit cards loaded in their virtual wallet" in the next 60 days, as established yesterday by the BCRA.
In this way, just as some wallets asked Mercado Pago to deliver their “credentials” to make payments in their QR, now Mercado Pago, in its role as wallet, will request the same from other acquirers for its users. Marcos Galperín's company maintains a relevant position in both links of the same chain , that of the wallets that pay and that of the QR readers that receive that payment.
“A decisive step”
Based on the agreement sealed with Modo , Mercado Pago confirmed that next Monday a pilot test will begin in 3 commercial chains ( Frávega, Open 25 and McDonald's ) and that it will be progressively implemented in all businesses in the country.Through a statement, the BCRA reported that “all registered digital wallets, whether bank or payment service providers, that allow payments to be made with credit cards and/or prepaid cards through QR codes, must be interoperable. ”. It should be noted that the only virtual wallets involved because they support the loading of cards from other entities are Mercado Pago and Modo.
“This advance implies a decisive step towards total interoperability in payment methods . The process, initiated and promoted by the BCRA, had as its milestone the entry into force of the interoperability of QR codes for credit card payments which, after successive postponements, finally occurred on April 30, 2024," said the Central , which also included prepaid cards in its regulations, with a period of 270 days for their incorporation.
The monetary entity also highlighted that the new scheme was designed with the participation of all companies. This consensus, noted the BCRA, contributes to the construction of “an open, competitive and interoperable digital payments ecosystem, which promotes greater financial inclusion and simplifies the experience of the more than 36 million users of the financial system.”
