Through Resolution No. 24 Act No. 57 dated December 11, 2025, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Paraguay ("BCP") approved the Regulation on Interoperability and Interconnection in the Credit and/or Debit Card System (the "Regulation"), establishing a mandatory regulatory framework aimed at guaranteeing non-discriminatory conditions of access, security, efficiency and competition in the card payment ecosystem.
The Regulation was issued within the framework of the powers conferred upon the BCP by Law 7503/2025 "National Payment System" and responds to the need to correct structural and contractual limitations that have hindered the development of a fully interoperable environment in the card payment market.
The Regulation is mandatory for all Payment Service Providers (PSP) that are directly or indirectly involved in the processing of credit and/or debit card transactions. This includes, but is not limited to, issuers, acquirers, subcontractors, processors, and other actors that intermediate in the processing of card payment transactions.
One of the key pillars of the Regulation is the obligation of the relevant entities to: (i) submit to the BCP, within six (6) months following the entry into force of the Regulation, the agreements and implementation plans for interoperability, and (ii) accompany said agreements and plans with a technical, operational and cybersecurity schedule that allows interoperability and interconnection to be achieved within a maximum period of thirty-six (36) months.
In the event of non-compliance, the BCP is empowered to unilaterally define the applicable technical, operational and security requirements.
Additionally, it is established that all payment terminals must allow the processing of credit and/or debit card operations of any national issuer, regardless of the initiation method used.
The Regulation introduces specific obligations in terms of transparency of promotions and benefits, interoperability of promotions, confidentiality of the commercial and strategic information of the participants. In addition, interoperability contracts may not contain clauses that are exclusionary, discriminatory or that condition access to the system.
The contracts signed between the parties must be available to the BCP and any breach thereof must be promptly reported both to the counterparty and to the Sub-General Management of Financial Operations (“SGGOF”).
The SGGOF may require reports of incidents that have occurred, detailing the affected systems or services, their impact and any other information it deems relevant.
Likewise, should the BCP identify indications of, or receive complaints regarding, conduct or practices that may constitute violations of competition law, it will forward the relevant information to the National Competition Commission (CONACOM).
