Antitrust agency grants Itaú 30 days to comply with digital wallet orderю Decision follows a bank request and will be reviewed by the watchdog’s tribunal.
The reporting commissioner at Brazil’s antitrust authority, the CADE, has given Itaú 30 days to comply with a preliminary order in a case involving alleged barriers to digital wallet transactions. The ruling by Commissioner Gustavo Augusto responds to a request from the bank and will be submitted to the agency’s tribunal.
Under the decision, the 30-day period runs from March 27, 2026—the date Itaú filed its appeal seeking additional time. In an order published Tuesday (14) in Brazil’s official gazette, the commissioner said the extension is reasonable given the need to adjust operations nationwide within a payment arrangement that involves a significant volume of customers and financial resources.
The injunction, issued in February 2025, was briefly overturned in court but quickly reinstated. Before the CADE, the bank argued it lacked access to all documents in the inquiry and requested that the probe be expanded to cover the entire market. The tribunal upheld the injunction on March 18.
The ruling grants Itaú access to additional information. While the investigation itself was not formally broadened, the CADE’s technical staff is authorized to impose similar preventive measures on other dominant credit card issuers found to be engaging in conduct that violates competition law. Itaú may also petition the authority to apply comparable measures to its competitors.
The injunction stems from an investigation opened after Brazil’s Federal Prosecution Service filed a complaint based on allegations by PicPay, which reported “indiscriminate refusals” of transactions involving rival digital wallets.
According to the CADE’s technical team, the reported practices suggest Itaú blocks credit card transactions on its platform for bill payments, Pix transfers, or peer-to-peer transfers, while allowing the same types of transactions through its own channels, such as apps and websites.
The conduct remains under investigation. In March, commissioners voted only to maintain the injunction.
In a statement, Itaú Unibanco said it is making operational adjustments within the established deadline, involving a nationwide payment arrangement. The bank said restrictions on certain transactions via digital wallets are based on “solid technical, economic, and legal grounds.”
Itaú reiterated that it has not violated competition rules or harmed consumers. According to the bank, the CADE’s preliminary ruling confirmed the legitimacy of the refusals, provided certain operational conditions are met.
“It is surprising to be the only bank involved in this proceeding, given evidence—long submitted to authorities — that other institutions adopt similar practices, likely for the same reasons,”
the bank said, adding that it expects the case to proceed on an equal footing for all market participants.
Source: Valor International
