Brazil caps fees, shortens payment terms in billion-dollar meal voucher market

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazilian President ​Luiz Inacio Lula ‌da Silva signed on Tuesday ‌a decree seeking to lower intermediation costs in the country’s ⁠multi-billion-‌real meal voucher market, which ‍will cap card processor fees and shorten settlement periods.

Meal ​and food vouchers ‌move about 170 billion reais ($31.46 billion) annually in Brazil under the ⁠Worker Food Program ​(PAT)​, created in 1976 to grant ‍tax benefits ⁠to companies providing meals to formal employees.

⁠(Reporting by Marcela ‌Ayres; Editing by ‌Gabriel Araujo)