Mexico's digital payments law starts the clock on cash-free sectors

Mexico's digital payments law starts the clock on cash-free sectors

4 November 2026: Mexico's new Ley de Economía Digital para Pagos Digitales y Electrónicos is in force. It was published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 4 November and took effect the following day. It gives the finance ministry, the Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, 15 working days to name the "strategic sectors and relevant activities" in which accepting digital payment may become the only way to pay. Then each sector's regulator has another 15 working days to write the rules.

Not yet independently verified. Neither the decree nor Hacienda states the calendar date on which the 15 working days end; the end of November is our own count and may differ from the government's. The list of sectors has not yet been published. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

For any business that takes payments in Mexico, the timetable matters more than the law's broad aims, because a sector named in that list will be told how and how fast to stop relying on cash.

Two deadlines, one after the other

The decree's transitory articles set the sequence:

• Third: within 15 working days of entry into force, Hacienda determines the sectors and activities where digital payment may be the only form accepted, and it can widen the list later.
• Fourth: within 15 working days of that determination being published, the competent authority in each sector issues general administrative rules under Article 14, setting conditions, requirements and obligations, with "mechanisms and specific timelines" for a gradual move away from cash.

By our count the first deadline falls at the end of November. DPL News and Bloomberg Línea report that President Claudia Sheinbaum has mentioned petrol stations and toll booths as examples, but no list has been published.

What counts as a digital payment

Article 2 defines the means broadly: QR codes and NFC devices that make payments, debit and credit cards, funds transfer orders including direct debit, and any other device, card or interface for making payments that the authorities recognise. Article 15 lets a business take cash or cheques when a "contingency" stops digital payments working, and Article 16 adds that a contingency cannot justify permanent or recurring non-compliance in a named sector.

Two parts of the law reach payment providers directly. Article 19 lets the Banco de México regulate account levels to widen access, and, with the banking regulator CNBV, require entities that run card point-of-sale terminals to accept QR payments that meet Banxico's technical specifications. Article 10 has all three levels of government accept digital payments for official procedures. The law also makes the digital CURP and the citizen's digital file accepted means of identification for opening financial services online.

Why acquirers and software vendors should watch the list

DPL News reports that the Asociación FinTech México asked for technology neutrality and for allowance of the cost and time of adding QR acceptance to existing terminals. That is where software and integration work will land: point-of-sale vendors, acquirers and the companies that run billing for petrol stations or toll roads will have weeks, not months, between a sector being named and its rules appearing. Bloomberg Línea cites INEGI figures showing that 85% of people pay for purchases under MXN 500 mostly in cash.

Our payment processing software category lists 14 products. The next fact to wait for is Hacienda's list.

Sources

• Diario Oficial de la Federación: Decreto por el que se expide la Ley de Economía Digital para Pagos Digitales y Electrónicos, 4 November 2026
• DPL News: Sheinbaum promulga ley de pagos digitales, 4 November 2026
• Bloomberg Línea: México inicia cuenta regresiva para decidir los negocios que ya no aceptarán efectivo, 4 November 2026