Uruguay BCU tightens payments, opens finance

Uruguay’s Financial Services Superintendency at the Central Bank of Uruguay has issued a regulatory proposal that would change the obligations of electronic instrument issuers and the complaint-handling process. The draft adds stronger authentication for card-not-present transactions and for linking electronic instruments to digital wallets, along with a maximum 60-day deadline to provide a final response when an investigation requires the involvement of institutions abroad.

What changes in digital payments?

The BCU proposal requires stronger authentication for card-not-present transactions and for linking electronic instruments to digital wallets. With that measure, the regulator aims to update the rules for issuers and tighten controls on transactions that rely on remote channels.

The text also introduces a maximum 60-day deadline to issue a final response when a complaint investigation must involve institutions abroad. That change is meant to address cross-border disputes and shorten resolution times for users.

What does the open finance system предусматри?

The Central Bank of Uruguay presented a draft framework to move toward an Open Finance System, which would let users share financial and payment data securely with prior, express, informed consent. The model is designed so authorized institutions access that information through application programming interfaces, or APIs.

Under the proposal, access to financial data and payment initiation would happen through APIs with prior, express, informed, and revocable consent at no cost. It also contemplates free and paid access models between institutions, prohibits passing specific charges on to users, and seeks to replace screen scraping with channels authorized and supervised by the BCU.

What risks and uses are in the debate?

The initiative has prompted concerns about the risks tied to handling financial data within a digital infrastructure regulated and supervised by the BCU. That debate is unfolding as the local payments system keeps expanding and adds more electronic and instant transactions.

Urutec described the move as an API-based model for sharing data with authorized institutions and accessing personalized payment, financial management, and credit services. At the same time, a report on the evolution of the payments system said instant transfers already account for more than 70% of transactions between institutions, underscoring the scale of the regulatory shift in Uruguay.