Consumer Secretariat revokes measure that could prohibit purchases in installments

The National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon), an entity of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, revoked this Friday, the 19th, the precautionary measure that could prohibit the offer of so-called installment purchases by PagBank (formerly PagSeguro), Mercado Pago, Stone and PicPay. According to Senacon, the companies demonstrated that they comply with current standards.

The precautionary measure had been granted last week in response to a complaint from the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), which stated that the product was a way for these companies to charge interest to consumers without passing it on to card-issuing banks. The complaint was made amid discussions about revolving credit, which, according to the entity, subsidizes interest-free installments, something these companies deny.

In buyer installments, transactions made with a credit card are divided into installments that the buyer pays with interest. According to Febraban, however, PagBank, Stone and Mercado Pago register these operations with the card brands as if they were interest-free installment purchases. Therefore, they would be receiving interest on them, without passing it on to the card issuing banks.

Febraban also claimed that the same practice would be adopted by Mercado Pago and PicPay when paying in installments for bills and other bills using credit card limits.

Senacon states that, in the response, Stone said it had developed solutions in accordance with law 13.455/17, which allows price differentiation according to the payment method and term chosen by consumers. PagBank refuted Febraban's statements. Mercado Pago said that the modalities are widely used by the market and that the suspension would be harmful to small business owners and consumers. PicPay stated that it complies with all obligations, and that Febraban's initiatives are commercially motivated.

“In light of the companies’ demonstrations, Senacon decided to revoke the precautionary measure. The department noted that the institutions presented clarifications that demonstrated compliance with legal regulations, making the continuation of the precautionary measure unnecessary”, says the secretariat, in a note.

“Senacon understands that the sector needs to be assessed in standards that regulate the national financial system. It also advocates that the machines reinforce information and transparency policies for consumers”, concludes Senacon.

'Technical' decision

Stone considered the revocation of Senacon's injunction against the company and other accreditors to be “correct and prudent”. “Upon becoming aware of the 'rate calculator' solution, offered by acquirers so that commercial establishments can differentiate prices (in accordance with Law 13455/2017), Senacon made a technical and prudent decision”, says the company, in a note.

“The complainants’ attempt to instrumentalize a government body as a form of defense in other instances proved, as expected, to be ineffective.”

The Brazilian Association of Payment Institutions (Abipag), which represents Stone and companies such as Dock and SumUp, said it was certain that, after clarifications from the companies, Senacon would make a “technically correct and prudent” decision.

“Abipag regrets the attempt by whistleblowers to mislead Senacon and repudiates the use of untrue information and slanderous reports as a way of preventing competition in the payments market from developing”, says the entity, which states that it will defend practices that stimulate competition and generate better products for the country's entrepreneurs.