Overview
- Initial reporting on August 26 said ABM requested a Base Única reclassification that would move education out of the 0% interchange category and apply roughly 0.75% for debit and 1.12% for credit transactions.
- ABM leaders replied the next day by stressing issuers and the Bank of Mexico clearing houses set interchange fees and by denying any initiative to remove the eight merchant categories that currently have 0% incentives.
- The ABM has invited the Confederación Nacional de Escuelas Particulares (CNEP) to meet to clarify the disputed documents and encouraged schools to negotiate merchant fees with acquirers, including nonbank providers.
- Schools and parent groups warn that applying interchange fees to tuition payments could raise costs for families and force schools to cut scholarships and services, with sector estimates showing material annual impacts for mid‑sized institutions.
- Interchange fees are internal commissions paid between acquirers and card issuers, the 0% education incentive was introduced after the pandemic to promote digital payments, and stakeholders now demand clear, public criteria, exact percentages and firm dates before any change is implemented.