The tension between banks and fintech picked up again, this time due to the
number of operations that can be done through the interoperable QR
that the Government promoted.
After the traditional entities urged the Central Bank to "open" the interoperability of payments to also extend to those made with credit cards, Mercado Pago came out to answer them: "we are not a monopoly.
"
Last Friday, a letter signed by the banks located in Adeba was released, in which they demanded that they modify the regulations that regulate payments through QR codes, so that they are "full interoperable with credit and debit cards". , which would allow paying with any means of payment through a QR code and not only with the money in the account.
Without official comments in this regard, the Mercado Libre fintech came to the crossroads with a new statement.
"Contrary to what the ADEBA banks maintain, the QR of Mercado Pago, far from being a monopoly or a dominant actor, is a
means of collection that competes in a market largely controlled by banks
and traditional players," they indicated in the company.
At the same time, they ensured that
"only 7% of face-to-face payments with digital media occur in
Mercado Pago QRs. More than 90% of electronic payments in businesses are made in traditional payment terminals, with which the QR competes" .
Mercado Pago, which was the
precursor to the use of the QR code
as a form of payment in Argentina, assured that for this
it invested more than US$ 30 million in 2018
and that three years later, the Central was the one who made it mandatory for the QRs to accept payments with transfer of any wallet (interoperability) and the company fully complies with said regulations,
"The banks
did not make a remotely similar investment,
nor did they deploy QR in businesses," they attacked and counterattacked: "Mercado Pago is interoperable: more than 500,000 businesses that operate with our QR have already received payments from another wallet or bank. Meanwhile some banks have blocked other services, limiting users from transfers from CBU to CVU.
The fintech recalled an old incident in the history of banks: when, in 2017, the National Commission for the Defense of Competition accused the entities that owned Prisma Medios de Pagos of anti-competitive practices and forced them to part with the company.
"Three years later, some banks launched
MODO, which is nothing more than an initiative where they coordinate instead of competing."
The document signed by the Adeba nucleated banks, among which are Macro, Galicia, Comafi, Hipotecario, Supervielle, Bancor, to name a few, ensured that currently any consumer has the possibility of paying with any debit or credit card in a store “without worrying about who provided the merchant with the “device” (the POS) that reads the card”, which is called “full interoperability”.
But when payments are initiated through a QR code, "you can only pay with credit or debit cards to the extent that you are a customer of the wallet or institution that provides the QR."
Mercado Pago responded that
85% of its customers are "neighborhood businesses and entrepreneurs
with sales of less than $100,000 per month. This segment was neglected and ignored by banks for decades."
"Mercado Pago developed a
free digital account
through which more than 7 million people in Argentina invest their balances in a common investment fund managed by BIND and generate returns (currently at 63.8% per year), with the possibility of use the money at any time. The banks do not remunerate the balances and charge a commission for account maintenance," the letter said.
"For us, what is strange is that concentrated interests that pay little attention to the need to continue financially including more Argentines continue to prevail," the statement concluded.
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