Overview
- The Senate approved the Ley de Economía Digital para Pagos Digitales y Electrónicos and sent the decree to the Executive for promulgation on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
- The law grants the Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público the power to identify strategic sectors where digital payments could become the only accepted form and requires Hacienda to act within 15 business days after the law enters into force.
- Designated authorities will then have another 15 business days to issue implementation and transition rules, creating a short, staged timetable before any sector faces mandatory digital-only payments.
- The statute already obliges businesses and federal, state and municipal authorities to enable electronic payment infrastructure, disclose accepted payment methods and adopt measures to handle payment failures while allowing temporary cash or check acceptance during technical, electrical or connectivity contingencies.
- Supporters say the law will speed financial inclusion and use existing systems such as SPEI and CoDi, and critics warn of costs, commissions and connectivity gaps for small merchants; the next material developments to watch are Hacienda’s sector determinations and the secondary rules that follow promulgation.