MEXICO CITY - Vocal protests by restaurateurs have led Mexican commercial banks to reduce the fees they charge restaurants for processing credit card payments.
"After three months of negotiations, the representatives of the banks accepted our petitions," said Antonio Alvarez Caballero, president of the National Restaurant Industry Chamber.
He said the fee structure would be based or the volume of billings registered by each restaurant.
The banks have not made an official announcement of the new fees. Mr. Alvarez said they would be made public later this month.
The trade association official added that the restaurant industry is suffering from the general lack of liquidity in the Mexican economy. Earlier this year, the restaurants charged that bank credit card discounts - the percentage of sales merchants pay to process the transaction - had become prohibitive.
Citing declines in revenues of 15% to 35% earlier this year, the restaurant association had threatened to boycott the card companies.
"In just the first half of the year, 2,000 restaurants closed their doors, which caused 10,000 job losses," Mr. Alvarez said.
