Mobile payments surpass debit cards in Argentina according to central bank reports – Fintech Bitcoin News

Mobile payments are booming 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 type of payment has flourished, representing 60% of payment operations carried out, while plastic-based payment media have stagnated and registered a drop in use.

Mobile payments continue to grow in Argentina

Electronic contactless payment has flourished in several countries in Latam, given the penetration of mobile phones in the area. The latest monthly report on retail payments issued by Argentina’s central bank has found that mobile payments are booming in the country, leaving legacy payment media behind.

According to the report, mobile devices are being used more to make payments due to the rise of banking apps and mobile wallets. In October alone, 162 million of these transactions were made, which is an increase of 7.1% compared to the transactions during September. The number doubles the number of transactions during October 2021.

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

Payment digitization and QR payments

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

The central bank of Argentina stated about this:

Indeed, the objective 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 guiding axes of the monetary body.

The report also shows a sustained increase in QR payments, recording more than 5 million payments made with this tool in October. This represents an increase compared to the figures corresponding to September when 3.15 million payments were made using QRs, which was considered a record at the 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 technology in September.

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

Sergio Goschenko

Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. Describing himself as late to the game, he entered the cryptosphere when the price spike occurred during December 2017. He has a computer engineering background, lives in Venezuela and is influenced by the cryptocurrency boom on a social level, offering a different point of view on crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.

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