The BCRA incorporates prepaid cards into the interoperable QR payment regime

The Central Bank ordered this Thursday the incorporation of prepaid cards into the interoperable QR payment regime. Thus, they will be added to what already applies for virtual operations with transfers and Credit cards.

The decision was made official by the board of directors of the entity chaired by Santiago Bausili through communication “A” 8032. There it established that all measures “related to interoperability in credit card payments through the reading of QR codes will be applicable to payments made with prepaid cards”. The standard establishes a implementation period of 270 days.

“All registered digital wallets, whether bank or payment service providers, that allow payments with credit cards and/or prepaid cards through QR codes, must be interoperable. This represents a significant improvement in the customer experience. payment for businesses and users,” the BCRA stated in a statement.

The measure comes after the entry into force, on April 30, of the interoperability of QR codes for credit card payments, which had been announced last year but suffered several postponements within the framework of the conflict between Payment Market and banks. In the last hours, both parties reached an agreement regarding certain technical points that were in disagreement and that hindered effective implementation.

In this way, once the system is fully operational, all QR code readers will have to accept credit card payments from all virtual wallets, as already happens with QR payments made with account-to-account transfer. . Within 270 days, the same should happen with prepaid cards.

Credit card payments via QR: new rules

That understanding, which will involve Mercado Pago opening its network to Modo (the banks’ wallet) and any other payment service provider, will first include pilot tests. But BCRA has already established new rules that will come into effect in 60 days for credit card payments via QR.

The same communication “A” 8032 provided that, when a credit card payment is initiated from an interoperable digital wallet by reading a QR code, liability for fraud will be assumed by the wallet, except when the wallet processes the payment with the technical requirements and standards of tokenization and authentication of the card brand; that the transaction cannot be processed with the technical requirements and standards available by the card brand, when they have been implemented by all participants in the transaction except for the acquirer/aggregator; or that there is an agreement to the contrary between issuers, wallets and/or acquirers/aggregators involved in the transaction.

It also determined that “any interoperable digital wallet that allows credit card payments to be made by reading QR codes must be able to read any printed image, device or terminal that is provided or facilitated by any acquirer or aggregator that allows accepting payments with said instrument through reading a QR code”.

Finally, it established that in credit card payments initiated by reading QR codes, financial entities and payment service providers that provide the interoperable digital wallet service from which the client initiates the payment but have not issued the credit card used will be entitled to charge the issuer, for each transaction, a commission of up to 0.07% of the transaction amount. This is a point that was critical in the aforementioned discussions.

“Thanks to the intense work and cooperation of all relevant actors, it was possible to continue building 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” concluded the BCRA statement.