The collection with the Interchange Fee (TIC), a percentage paid by card brands to issuers (financial institutions), is one of the main responsible for allowing fintechs and startups to offer services free of charge and without fees to consumers. However, a proposal for a regulatory change by the Central Bank (BC) could bring a billionaire impact to millions of Brazilians.
The measure that divides traditional and digital banks began in 2018, when the financial authority stipulated a ceiling of 0.5% for debit cards under the argument of encouraging the use of the modality in the country. From there, the fees paid to traditional banks and fintechs ended up being different, as most of them issue prepaid cards — despite similar uses, they fit into different regulations.
If the BC establishes the same rate ceiling charged on transactions carried out by cards issued by fintechs and banks, the impact will be twofold: for fintechs’ collection and for people’s financial access to banking services.
Photo: Rodrigo Oliveira/Caixa Econômica Federal
For the final consumer, approximately 34 million people would be affected in the next two years, a number restricted to the universe of companies that are part of Zetta — a non-profit association founded by Mercado Pago and Nubank —, argues the president of the platform, Bruno Magrani.
According to a survey by the organization, if these rules had already been in force last year, the clients of these financial institutions would have paid around R$ 24 billion in fees.
As for fintechs and financial startups, the revenue from collection, in practice, would be reduced, since the Interchange Fee is among their main sources of revenue, allowing them to create a business model and grow a lot in recent years over the last few years. offer products, such as a free and no-fee credit card, for example.
Defense of self-regulation
According to Ricardo de Barros Vieira, executive vice president of Abecs, which brings together banks and fintechs, card brands have already submitted proposals for self-regulation to the Central Bank. “We are proposing that, if the BC sees any imperfection, that any price adjustment be made by the flags and not by state pricing,” he said.
In early June, representatives of Zetta met with Roberto Campos, president of the BC, with the aim of defending that the ceiling would harm fintech operations, presenting the calculation of the impact on tariffs, as well as arguments that the possible change would make it difficult people’s access to banking services.
Photo: Raphael Ribeiro/BCB
To The globethe BC informed that it is analyzing the contributions received from the market and that the proposal will be submitted “soon” to the board.
In the event of a new regulation, Zetta asks for an “extended” time for the market to adapt, which in the view of Vieira, from Abecs, should be decided by the market, emphasizing that it defends balance with self-regulation, free competition and equality of rules. .
