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The Competition Council has decided to definitively accept the commitments proposed by the CMI and the latter’s shareholder banks to remedy “competition concerns” in the electronic card payment market. The regulator announced this in a press release published this Monday, November 4.
This decision was rendered on October 31 by the College of Council, following a final examination session of the referral initiated by NAPS, a competitor of CMI on the market in question. This final session was held in the presence of Bank Al Maghrib, sector regulator.
The final validation of commitments makes them obligatory.
With regard to structural commitments, the CMI undertakes to:
– Transfer all merchant membership contracts to card systems (affiliation to the Electronic Payment Terminal “TPE” and online payment “PEL”) for the benefit of payment establishments or any other bank subsidiary dedicated to acquisition relating or not to the latter.
Also, the CMI undertakes to transfer the contracts linked to its online payment gateway activity (Gateway E-Commerce);
-Participate actively and effectively in the facilitation and completion of this transfer for the benefit of the new transferees;
– Make all necessary arrangements to guarantee the economic viability, value and competitiveness of its contracts during the transitional period of twelve (12) months from the date of the Council decision making the commitments obligatory.
– Refrain from approaching any new customer or entering into new membership contracts for card systems or contracts linked to its online payment gateway activity (Gateway E-Commerce) with merchants (B to C).
However, and in order to adapt to the competitive market context, the CMI may take all necessary measures to defend, preserve and manage commercial contracts concluded before the date of the aforementioned Council decision, while awaiting their completion. transfer to bank payment institutions or other subsidiaries dedicated to acquisition.
In this regard, the CMI, which will be transformed into a technical processing platform on behalf of all local payment establishments, undertakes to guarantee access to its services under fair, transparent and non-discriminatory pricing and non-pricing conditions. .
As for the banks which are shareholders of the CMI, they undertake to acquire, for the benefit of their payment establishments or any other dedicated subsidiaries, all merchant contracts which concern membership of the card systems (affiliation to the Electronic Payment Terminal “TPE” and online payment “PEL”), concluded on the date of the decision to be taken by the Council.
The CMI and its shareholder banks also undertake, each as far as it is concerned, to ensure the principles of permanence and continuity of acquisition services without disruption or decline by capitalizing on technical and technological achievements in the field, particularly with regard to the various national and international partners whose schemes[1] international.
With regard to non-price behavioral commitments, the CMI and its shareholder banks undertake to implement a compliance program with competition law and immediately cease the practices that are the subject of the aforementioned competition concerns.
The CMI shareholder banks also undertake to:
– Ensure that their payment institutions or dedicated subsidiaries are legally and economically independent, in order to allow them to enjoy functional and accounting autonomy.
– Do not market affiliation offers to the Electronic Payment Terminal “TPE” or online payment “PEL” from their payment establishments or subsidiaries dedicated to acquisition. However, banks may promote the acquisition activity at the level of their agency networks or by any other means, without prejudice to the right of the bank’s customer to contract with the acquirer of their choice.
As for behavioral pricing commitments, the parties concerned have undertaken not to apply an interchange commission, per transaction of an amount greater than the ceiling set by Bank Al-Maghrib regulatory decision no. 244/W/2024 dated of September 20, 2024, relating to domestic electronic payment interchange fees.
The regulator reminds that interchange corresponds to the part of the acquisition commission paid by the acquirer (the one who contracts with the merchant) to the issuing bank (the one which issued the card to the bearer) during each payment by card .
This review of interchange allows acquirers to make significant reductions in the prices of their merchant customers, which will promote the development of electronic payment by card by reducing the rate of the acquisition commission.
In addition, the CMI and the latter’s shareholder banks have undertaken to transmit to the Competition Council from the date of the Council’s decision making the aforementioned commitments obligatory, and for a period of two (2) years, a documented half-yearly statement detailing the execution of the various structural and behavioral commitments made.
The Council specifies that a “transitional period and deadlines” are planned as part of the progressive implementation of these commitments made obligatory by the Competition Council.
Also, and to ensure the monitoring of the execution of these commitments, a joint monitoring commission is created between the Competition Council and Bank Al-Maghrib, in order to deal with the technical, economic and legal aspects relating to the execution of the aforementioned commitments and return to the Council for information and any possible decision.
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