Not considering the costs of the collection process, nor market conditions, are some of the failures that Costa Rica banks identify in the bill being discussed in the Legislative Assembly.
In December 2018, a proposal was presented that seeks that the Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCCR) – Central Bank and the Commission to Promote Competition, set a single percentage in the commissions that businesses pay for accepting credit or debit cards.
This is bill 21.177, which would determine the percentage of exchange and acquisition commissions for purchase transactions with credit and debit cards, based on alleged technical criteria and practices of other countries.
Reinaldo Herrera, director of finance at the state bank, Banco Nacional, explained to Nacion.com that the bill “… does not make any consideration with respect to the costs of the process. It refers to reference countries, but does not examine in depth the specific conditions of their markets, which would allow us to have elements of judgment to support a comparison.”
Federico Chavarría, deputy manager of Business at the private bank, Banco Promerica, said he thinks that “… the objective sought by the bill benefits only one sector and does not consider many important aspects of the ecosystem, in addition, disrupts the order that has not prevailed for many years and could harm the entire system, the same businesses and definitely, tax collection.”
The bill is currently in the mandatory consultation stage in the Economic Affairs Commission of the Legislative Assembly.
