Banco Central de la República Argentina on March 30 set new caps on the fees that banks can charge businesses on credit and debit card transactions.

Starting April 1, the percentage fee limit will be lowered to 2% for credit card transactions, from a current 3%, and 1% for debit card transactions.

The central bank will continue to lower the percentage fees over a 5-year period, with the maximum fees to be capped at 1.3% for credit cards and 0.6% for debit cards in 2021.

In announcing the move, the central bank said it aims to generate incentives for new players in the electronic payment market and boost competitiveness by giving a bigger portion of transactional revenues to electronic payment companies.