The law governing Banco de México establishes that one of its objectives is to foster the proper functioning of the payment systems. To fulfill this objective, Banco de México has adopted policies to make the payment systems more secure and efficient.

The payment systems and their importance to the stability of the financial system

The importance of a payment system depends on factors such as its monetary value and the number and type of transactions processed. Payment systems are called systemically important if the risk they incur affects the stability of the financial system. In Mexico, the securities settlement system DALÍ, and the electronic funds transfer systems SIAC and SPEI, are considered systemically important. In January every year Banco de México publishes a list of systemically important payment systems, according to the definition set out in the Payment Systems Law of 2002:

• Banco de México’s policy on these systems is the following: The SIAC and SPEI systems must comply with the Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems published by the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
• The DALÍ system must comply with the Recommendations for Securities Settlement Systems published by the CPSS and the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO).

Several operational and legal modifications have enabled Mexican systemically important payment systems to comply with international best practices. To ensure that this remains the case, the Payment Systems Law empowers Banco de México to oversee those systems, allowing it, when necessary, to participate in their establishment, development and modification.

Other payment systems

There are other systems which cannot affect the entire financial system in case of operational difficulty because the settled payment value is low. The systems are still important, however, due to a large number of processed payments. For these systems, Banco de México’s oversight policy is as follows:

Communication

• Take into account the suggestions of payment systems participants and payment services users whenever possible.
• Meet constantly with payment systems participant associations to discuss existing problems and present proposals to make the systems more secure and efficient.

Competition conditions

• Promote the existence of conditions for fair competition among payment services providers.

Transparency

• Foster transparency in payment services in order to protect users from bad practices on the part of service providers.
• Foster systems participants’ awareness of the risks to which they are exposed in using the national payment system.
• Foster the adoption of risk management policies by participants according to each payment system.