By Brazil Stock Guide – The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) has closed a years-long investigation into Itaú Unibanco (ITUB4) and Redecard, ruling on Wednesday (10) that the companies will face no sanctions over allegations of abusing market power in the credit-card acquiring and banking services markets.
The case centered on a 2019 Rede campaign offering merchants a faster two-day settlement period for credit-card transactions — but only for those that kept their banking domicile with Itaú and posted annual revenues of up to R$30 million. Merchants using other banks continued to face a 30-day settlement cycle.
The majority of the tribunal backed the dismissal, overruling the position of the case rapporteur, Gustavo Augusto Freitas de Lima. Counselor Camila Cabral had previously requested more time to review specific aspects of the investigation.
In August 2024, counselor Victor Fernandes delivered the opinion that ultimately prevailed. He viewed the conduct as a form of mixed bundling, noting: “Considering the short duration of the conduct, the limited volume of affected sales and the absence of evidence that the banking-domicile requirement financed discounts on receivables anticipation, the Rede pricing policy did not show the ability to foreclose the national acquiring market in whole or in part.”
Fernandes added that Cade should remain attentive to changes in commercial strategies by dominant financial and payments players, particularly as new entrants adopt aggressive competitive moves in adjacent markets.
Itaú and Rede argued throughout the case that the campaign had no anticompetitive effects and, in a late submission, said: “There is no legal, factual or economic basis for a conviction. On the contrary, the potential benefits of the conduct far outweigh the counterfactual scenario, as merchants were better off compared to a situation without the policy.”
With the ruling, the process is officially closed.
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