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Argentina: 14 banks put payment processor Prisma up for sale

By  |  February 27, 2017

Prisma, the company which controls the local payment systems for Visa, Banelco, LaPos, PagoMisCuentas and others, will be sold in its entirety by the 14 banks which own shares in the controversial operator.

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    The decision has been complicated due to the still-pending merger between Visa and Banelco, which still awaits approval from Argentina’s competition regulator, CNDC. “The sale has been decided, but the question is how to do it: wholesale or in parts. It depends on what the government does, what prices we can expect, and banks don’t want to lose money…” said an anonymous source close to one of the banks’ boards.

    Argentina’s CNDC has recommended that banks take steps to comply with the soon-to-be-official competition law, which aims at dismantling existing monopolies including Visa’s domination in the country. Meanwhile, the Central Bank (which will determine the final rules for this market after the law is ratified), has said that any new owner for Prisma must ensure greater competition and interplay between its products and networks.

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