Central Bank of Costa Rica Modifies Payment Cards System Regulations

Maximum Commissions for the Card System in Costa Rica for 2023On the 12^th of December, 2022, the Central Bank of Costa Rica published the Payment Cards System Regulations, which will enter into force two months after its publication. Some of the main modifications to the Regulations are as follows:

1. Implement interoperability between POS and ATM: Devices should support Mastercard and VISA cards before December 2023 and should support Amex before December 2024.
2. POS Terminals requiring PIN as Cardholder Verification Method (CVM): Acquirers should implement this CVM for payments greater than ‘fast payments’ amount before December 2023.
3. Increase the ‘fast payment’ amount: The fast payment amount will increase from ¢30.000 colons (or this amount in foreign currency) to ¢50.000 or US$100. This change will apply on 12th February 2023.
4. Determine the Maximum Commissions for the Card System:

These maximum commissions (maximum local exchange commission, maximum local acquisition commission, maximum cross-border exchange commission and maximum cross-border acquisition commission) will apply for 2023 from the dates indicated according to the Regulation, considering that the CMAT has remained at the same maximum since 2020.

Andrés Alvarez

[email protected]