Different banking entities denounced Mercado Libre claiming that he holds a dominant position abuse and it was before the National Commission for the Defense of Competition (CNDC).
It was carried out through the Modo virtual wallet, which represents the main entities.
“The abusive behavior of Mercado Libredetailed in the complaint,generate negative effects for the marketdisproportionately maximizing their profits at the expense of contract the value offer for users due to the lack of competition«said Santiago Eraso Lomáquiz, legal director of Modo.
«We decided to take a step forward not only because we are affected as competitors, but because we understand that it is not appropriate to endorse by omission those behaviors that violate the law andlimit the freedom of choice of users”he continued.
What banks report about Mercado Libre
Modo asked the CNDC to issue a precautionary measure in order to advance the interoperability of QR codes for credit cards, as well as the opening of the Mercado Pago wallet.
All this in order to enable its users to “initiate credit card payments” in other payment methods of its competitors.
The complaint then, by Modo, is that it points out the anti-competitive behavior of Mercado Libre, alleging an “abuse of an exclusionary dominant position”, as detailed TN.
The crucial point is the complaint lies in the lack of interoperability of QR codes in credit card payments. This forces users to have to open Mercado Pago accounts to be able to operate with Mercado Libre.
They also denounce that in Mercado Libre“prevents the use of digital wallets competing with Mercado Pago”and therefore, denies access to “those who request to be payment initiators on the platform.”
The accusatory document closes by stating: “Modo trusts that an investigation will be opened for one or more anti-competitive practices. This will require a deep analysis of the payments ecosystem and digital wallets, which has become very complex in recent years.”