Mexico’s National Antitrust Commission (CNA) has rejected Visa’s plan to acquire majority interest in payment processor Prosa.

According to a Bloomberg report, the decision marks the first major ruling by the country’s new competition watchdog.

The proposed transaction was announced in December 2023.

Visa said at the time that Prosa would continue operating as an independent company with its own technology infrastructure. The payment major planned to expand Prosa’s product offering with digital solutions and share its “experience and knowledge managing a global network and set of technology capabilities”.

In a statement, the CNA said the remedies put forward by the parties did not address the concerns it identified. The regulator stated that the solutions proposed by Visa and Prosa “were not suitable or sufficient to avoid the risk to markets and consumers detected by the commission.”

The CNA’s decision follows earlier findings by its predecessor body the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece), which had said existing conditions were limiting effective competition in the sector.

According to the regulator’s assessment, the deal would have reshaped competition in several parts of Mexico’s card payments market. The transaction would have left Visa with two out of three card issuers in Mexico, via its own system and Prosa’s brand Carnet.

Mastercard would have remained as the other competitor.

The acquisition would also have expanded Visa’s position in clearing and settlement infrastructure, controlling two out of four of Mexico’s clearinghouses.

Additionally, the proposed structure would have given Visa a significant presence in payment processing and brand licencing. The CNA also raised concerns about access to information.

Under the proposed terms, Visa would have been able to access detailed information on card payments processed through Prosa, including transactions involving both Visa-branded cards and Mastercard cards.

Prosa is currently owned by a group of banks, including Grupo Financiero Banorte, HSBC Holdings, Invex Controladora, Banco Santander, Bank of Nova Scotia and Banco Nacional del Ejército.

Mexico’s former competition regulator, the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece), was dissolved in late 2024.

Cofece and part of the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) were merged into the CNA. The CNA operates as a decentralised agency within the Economy Ministry. It has also retained Cofece’s commission President Andrea Marván Saltiel and much of its staff.