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FINTECH REGULATIONS
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2024
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Abstract]  
FINTECH REGULATIONS FINTECH REGULATIONS
Regulations issued by the Central Banks and other regulators of the countries where the Company operates applicable to its Fintech business are described in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements in the Company’s 2023 10-K.
Brazil
In March 2022, the Central Bank of Brazil announced new rules for payment institutions based on their size and complexity and raised standards for required capital. The new framework, which was effective starting in July 2023 with full implementation by January 2025, will extend the application of the rule regarding proportionality of regulatory requirements (currently applicable to conglomerates of financial institutions) to financial conglomerates led by payment institutions. The new rules require a gradual increase, between 2023 and 2025, in the regulatory capital requirements applicable to the Company’s regulated Brazilian subsidiaries based on the following schedule: from July 2023 onwards, 6.75%, from January 2024 onwards, 8.75% and from January 2025 onwards, 10.50%.
On January 2, 2024, article 28 of Law 14,690 came into force, which caps the total amount that may be charged to a credit card holder in the form of interest and financial charges at the value of the original debt. The Central Bank of Brazil also defined rules on the Resolution CMN N° 5,112, clarifying the topic and defining criteria for calculating the original value of the debt in card revolving and invoice financing operations. To comply with the new regulation, Company’s subsidiaries reduced the duration of the credit card invoice financing plans since January 2024.
On June 28, 2024, Law No. 14,905 was enacted, modifying Decree No. 22,626, known as the "Lei da Usura". The law will come into force on August 28, 2024, resulting in operations undertaken with institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil, such as Mercado Pago Instituição de Pagamento Ltda., no longer being subject to the previously imposed interest rate cap.
Argentina
On May 18, 2023, the Central Bank of Argentina (“CBA”) enacted a new regulation establishing that QR Codes must be interoperable with credit card payments, effective as from May 1, 2024. This regulation also expanded the payment services providers (“PSP” according to its Spanish acronym) registry and established that certain entities that accept, acquire, aggregate or sub-acquire payments must be registered. Under this regulation, MercadoLibre S.R.L. was required to register as both an acceptor and an aggregator of payments, and Mercado Pago Servicios de Procesamiento S.R.L. was required to register as an acquirer of payments. The Company’s subsidiaries completed their registrations as acceptor, acquirer and aggregator, as applicable, on April 9, 2024, February 23, 2024 and June 24, 2024, respectively.
On September 14, 2023, the CBA established that starting on December 1, 2023, DEBIN (debit immediate), the main and simple funding source of Mercado Pago users’ accounts, will be suspended and replaced with a pull transfer method that requires the consent of the client outside of Mercado Pago’s environment before the first use. After several extensions of the application of the rule, on April 30, 2024, the CBA approved a new method of pull transfer that no longer requires the consent of the client outside of Mercado Pago’s environment.
On June 6, 2024, the CBA established that payment service providers who offer payment accounts (“PSPOCP” according to its Spanish acronym) are no longer required to distribute the returns generated by their clients' funds. However, financial institutions are still required to set up a reserve of 100% of the customer funds deposited by Mercado Pago and may invest up to 45% of those funds in Argentine bonds.
Chile
On October 12, 2022, the Chilean Congress approved the Fintech and Open-Banking Law Project, which was published on January 4, 2023, and came into effect on February 3, 2023. This law established a regulatory framework for certain technological financial services that did not have their own legal framework. These services are: (i) Alternative Transaction Systems, (ii) Crowdfunding Financing Platforms, (iii) Financial Instrument Intermediation, (iv) Order Routing, (v) Credit Advisory, and (vi) Investment Advisory. Pursuant to this law, Mercado Pago Crypto S.A. shall file a license request with the Commission for the Financial Market (“CMF” according to its Spanish acronym) in order to continue offering Order Routing services through the “buy, hold and sell” product launched in 2023 in collaboration with Ripio Chile SpA. The rules governing the specifics of this filing and the license that CMF must grant, were issued on January 12, 2024, giving Mercado Pago Crypto S.A. until February 3, 2025 to file the license request. In addition, an Open Finance System is created to allow financial service providers to exchange customer financial information.
On April 8, 2024, the Cybersecurity Law was published. Although Mercado Pago Chilean entities already comply with the law’s main obligations as a result of being regulated entities, as a result of this new law, such entities will be subject to a new regulator and must comply with certain reporting requirements for cyber security incidents. We expect that the Mercado Pago Chilean entities will be required to comply with these new reporting requirements sometime during 2025 or 2026.
On May 30, 2024, the Chilean Congress passed Law 21,673, amending Law 20,009, which, effective as of June 1, 2024, establishes a limited liability regime for users of prepaid cards in case of loss, theft, or fraud. Pursuant to Law 21,673, there may be instances in which an issuer may suspend a refund in the event of fraud or serious fault on behalf of the user claiming such refund on account of allegedly fraudulent charges. MercadoPago is in the process of implementing these measures for its compliance.
Colombia
In June 2023, MercadoPago S.A. Compañía de Financiamiento obtained a license to operate as a financial institution in Colombia, and therefore is able to offer credits, digital accounts, investments and prepaid cards. On April 22, 2024, MercadoPago S.A. Compañía de Financiamiento started operations offering, for the moment, the “Ordinary Deposit” product only and is subject to minimum capital, reporting, consumer protection and risk management requirements. In accordance with regulations, deposits are now subject to regulatory liquidity, reserve, and solvency requirements to ensure the protection of customers' funds.
Uruguay
On April 12, 2024, MercadoPago Uruguay S.R.L. initiated a process with the Central Bank of Uruguay (“BCU”) to be authorized to act as a payment acquirer with transfers, as an activity related to electronic money issuances, in compliance with new regulations that came into effect on March 1, 2024.
On April 17, 2024, MercadoPago Uruguay S.R.L. was approved as a participant in the automated clearing house managed by Urutec S.A. This approval allows MercadoPago Uruguay S.R.L. to participate in the fast payment system and offer a new payment method to its users: interoperable QR transfer payments. The release date for interoperable QR transfer payments is still under review by the regulator.
On July 3, 2024, MercadoPago Uruguay S.R.L. received authorization from the BCU to offer acquiring services, which are expected to be developed during the second half of 2024.