# New rule requires interoperability for meal and food vouchers and reshapes Brazil's employee benefits sector

The measure ends exclusivity deals, lowers the cap on fees charged to merchants and widens competition between traditional operators and fintechs.

- Section: Business
- Published: November 4, 2026
- Address: https://ceoone.com.br/en/article/new-rule-requires-interoperability-for-meal-and-food-vouchers-and-reshapes
- Em português: https://ceoone.com.br/artigo/nova-regra-obriga-interoperabilidade-nos-vales-refeicao-e-alimentacao-.md

![A restaurant window covered in stickers for card brands and meal and food vouchers, such as Ticket, Alelo, Pluxee, VR, Visa and Mastercard](https://pub-b80e49b2737940b3ab5d3f20d0578192.r2.dev/artigos/nova-regra-obriga-interoperabilidade-nos-vales-refeicao-e-alimentacao--foto.webp)

Photo: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil

## Key points

- From November 7, the new PAT rules require meal and food voucher cards to work on any enabled card machine, with no exclusivity between operators and merchants.
- The fee charged to restaurants and supermarkets, which reached 8%, is capped at 3.6% per transaction; the Ministry of Finance estimates R$ 5 billion more for merchants.
- Workers do not need to replace their cards; the government says there will be no extension, while operators such as those in ABBT point to legal uncertainty and short deadlines.

Brazil's corporate benefits market, a sector that moves some R$ 150 billion a year, undergoes a structural change starting this Saturday, November 7. The new rules of the Workers' Food Program (PAT) come into force, making interoperability mandatory for meal voucher (VR) and food voucher (VA) cards. The measure allows the benefits to be accepted by any acquirer and card machine enabled for the category, doing away with exclusivity agreements between operators and merchants.

Under the new regulation, operators serving more than 500,000 workers must move from the closed-loop model, in which the card is accepted only in networks accredited by the issuer itself, to the open-loop model, similar to the way credit and debit cards have traditionally worked. The government expects the wider market opening to lower the cost of food in the country, increase the number of places where consumers can use the cards and intensify competition between the large long-standing issuers (such as Ticket, Pluxee, Alelo and VR) and the sector's fintechs (such as Caju, Flash and Swile).

Another pillar with a direct impact on retail and the out-of-home food business concerns the cap on discount rates (known as merchant fees) that issuers charge merchants. Before the regulatory decrees, the fees charged to restaurants and supermarkets could reach up to 8% per transaction. With the rule in place, the maximum fee is set at 3.6% per transaction. Ministry of Finance projections indicate that capping the rates could save merchants an average of R$ 225 per worker per year, injecting some R$ 5 billion into the sector.

The Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE) stresses that Brazil's payment system already has the technical capacity to operate on an open-loop basis and that the deadlines will not be extended. On the other hand, the Brazilian Association of Employee Benefit Companies (ABBT) and large operators point to legal uncertainty and short operational deadlines for the systems transition, while organizations such as the Brazilian Association of Payment Institutions (Abipag) and Fhoresp report that implementation still faces operational bottlenecks. Abrasel, for its part, voiced support for interoperability but warned that establishments need to be technologically ready.

For workers, the transition does not require replacing the current card or updating any records with HR or the issuers, and the purpose of each benefit stays the same: the meal voucher remains restricted to ready meals (restaurants, snack bars and bars) and the food voucher to grocery purchases in supermarkets and butcher shops. Companies that break the rules are subject to fines ranging from R$ 5,000 to R$ 50,000.

## Largest players in Brazil's benefits sector

| Company | Origin and brand | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Edenred | France, Ticket | Market value of R$ 33.8 billion |
| Pluxee | France, formerly Sodexo Benefícios | Market value of R$ 14.1 billion; joint venture with Banco Santander |
| Elopar | Brazil, Bradesco and Banco do Brasil, Alelo | Estimated valuation of R$ 6 billion |
| Prosus | Netherlands, iFood and iFood Benefícios | Total group valuation of R$ 453 billion |
| Caju | Brazil, a Prosus portfolio company | Valuation of R$ 1 billion |
| Flash | Brazil | Estimated valuation of R$ 5 billion; funding from Tencent and Monashees |
| Swile | France, Vee Benefícios | Valuation of R$ 5.5 billion; funding from SoftBank |
| VR Benefícios | Brazil | Privately held group controlled by the Szajman family |

## Sources and editorial notes

- Reference report: Folha de S.Paulo (report by Júlia Moura published in the C-Level section, November 4, 2026).
- Organizations and spokespeople consulted: Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE), Ministry of Finance, Eduardo del Giglio (co-founder and CEO of Caju and president of CBBT), Brazilian Association of Credit Card and Services Companies (Abecs), Brazilian Association of Employee Benefit Companies (ABBT), Abrasel and Fhoresp.

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