Mobile Payments Outpacing Debit Cards in Argentina According to Central Bank Reports

Mobile payments are thriving in Argentina, leaving behind other traditional payment methods, including credit and debit cards. According to the central bank’s monthly report on retail payments, this kind of payment has thrived, representing 60% of the payments operations made, while plastic-based payment media has stagnated, registering a fall in use.

Electronic contactless payments have been thriving in several countries of Latam, given the penetration of mobile cell phones in the area. The latest monthly report on retail payments issued by the Central Bank of Argentina has found that mobile payments are thriving in the country, leaving behind legacy payment media.

According to the report, mobile devices are being more greatly leveraged to make payments due to the rise of banking apps and mobile wallets. Just in October, 162 million of these transactions were made, registering an increase of 7.1% when compared to the transactions made during September. The number doubles the number of transactions made during October 2021.

In fact, payments made using these apps represent 60% of the whole number of payments made, a rise from the 51% of December 2021. In comparison, payments made with debit cards have stagnated, with 66.45 million transactions made in September 2022, falling 9.35% compared to the number of transactions made in July.

The digitization of the payments arena in Argentina has been steadily progressing since the launch of Transferencias 3.0, an open payments program that implemented interoperable QR payments, allowing institutions other than private banks to offer payment services.

On this, the central bank of Argentina stated:

The objective, in fact, was to promote the formation of an open and universal digital payment ecosystem, and to achieve greater inclusion of those sectors that still do not use financial services, one of the management axes of the monetary body.

The report also shows a sustained rise in QR payments, registering more than 5 million payments made using this tool in October. This represents a rise when compared to the numbers corresponding to September when 3.15 million payments were made using QRs, which was considered a record at that time.

Bitso, a Latam-based exchange, was one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges to allow users to make payments directly from their wallets, taking advantage of this tech in September.

What do you think about the rise of mobile and digital payments in Argentina? Tell us in the comments section below.