Overview
- The Senate approved the Ley de Economía Digital on Tuesday, Oct. 20, and immediately sent the decree to the Executive for promulgation and publication in the Diario Oficial de la Federación.
- The law gives the Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público authority to name sectors that must use only digital payments and imposes a 15-business-day deadline for that list followed by another 15 business days for sector transition rules.
- It formally recognizes CURP Digital and the Expediente Digital Ciudadano as official remote ID tools and makes use of the biometric CURP optional for citizens when opening accounts or contracting financial services.
- The law builds on existing payment rails such as SPEI, CoDi and DiMo and includes a contingency rule allowing temporary cash or cheque acceptance during technical, electrical or connectivity outages.
- Business groups and rating agencies warned that gaps in internet, interoperability, inactive bank accounts and merchant costs could exclude small firms and rural users even as the law aims to boost financial inclusion and create transaction histories that ease access to credit.