The note states that “MODO is a company made up of 36 banks, which is being investigated for cartelization and discrimination by the National Commission for the Defense of Competition (CNDC).”
The statement emphasizes that the investigations against MODO by the CNDC are “for promoting practices that affect the fintech industry and millions of consumers; for limiting transfers from bank accounts (CBU) to virtual accounts (CVU) and for repeating practices that the CNDC had already considered anti-competitive in the case of Prisma, the most relevant in competition matters in recent decades”
“It is striking that In 2020, the same banks set up another company (MODO) with identical objectives to avoid competing with each other and now they are again denounced for cartelizing.”adds the statement.
The note ensures that “over the years, Mercado Libre took risks, invested, generated employment, developed products and technology to eliminate bureaucracy and make simple what was previously complex: obtain a card, generate account returns and request a credit, among other products.”
The text adds that “users freely chose to use Mercado Pago products over those of the competition.”
“Mercado Libre complies with all current regulations. The CNDC itself, opportunely, not only ruled out problems with the competition, but also recognized the benefits of the integration between Mercado Pago and Mercado Libre for the operation of the platform and the efficient and secure processing of payments,” Galperin’s company continued. .
In that sense, he stated that “The banks’ claim is as absurd as expecting a supermarket to offer own brand products from a competing supermarket or expecting banks to offer Mercado Pago products and services in their branches and home banking.””.
“This action takes place days after the expiration of the deadlines established by the BCRA for the interoperability of credit cards with QR. Mercado Pago complied with the provisions of the regulation, opening its network despite the fact that the banks refused to agree to commercial conditions,” the statement concluded.
The complaint to Mercado Libre
The banks, through the MODO virtual wallet, They denounced Mercado Libre before the National Commission for the Defense of Competition (CNDC) for abuse of its dominant position to the detriment of multiple market actors, including similar companies, businesses and consumers. Basically, accuses Galperin’s company of putting “a barrier” to the entry of other wallets into the market.
In the complaint filed with the CNDC, MODO states that evidence and documents that demonstrate “abusive and exclusive” conduct carried out by Mercado Libre SRL, Mercado Pago Servicios de Procesamiento SRL and MercadoLibre Inc.
“The abusive conduct of Mercado Libre, detailed in the complaint, generate negative effects for the market, disproportionately maximizing their profits at the cost of contracting the value offer for users due to the lack of competition“, he detailed Santiago Eraso Lomáquizdirector of legal, compliance and public affairs at MODO.
