Meal vouchers: card machines must accept all cards starting November 7
The Labor Ministry reminds that the deadline for full PAT interoperability ends Friday; refusal of a card can be reported.
Translated from the Portuguese original by the Panorama newsroom. Read in Portuguese
Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.
The Ministry of Labor and Employment said that the so-called full interoperability of the Worker Food Program (PAT) must be in effect by November 7, 2026, according to g1.
In practice, any meal voucher or food voucher card must be accepted at any card machine that handles this type of benefit, regardless of the operator or card brand.
The rule comes from a presidential decree published in November 2025, which gave the sector up to 360 days to adapt. Operators with more than 500,000 users had already been given 180 days, which ended in May, to open their payment arrangements and accept competitors' cards.
Enforcement is the ministry's responsibility, through the Labor Inspection Secretariat, which will check whether operators and acquirers guarantee reciprocal acceptance. In a statement, the government said that refusing a card that should be accepted is an irregularity that can be reported through the agency's channels.