Monthly Report on Retail Payments - August 2022

Interoperable payments by transfer (pagos con transferencia, PCT) have kept on gaining share among retail payments. In August, there were 23.1 million PCTs, growing 52.2% y.o.y., according to the Monthly Report on Retail Payments released by the BCRA.

Interoperable PCTs were channeled as follows: QR code payments, 17.4%; POS card payments, 48%; token payments, 11.4%; and payment buttons, 14.9%.

PCTs within a single scheme (non-interoperable) also gained momentum: in July (latest data available) 106.5 million payments totaling ARS280.6 billion were made, rising 194.6% y.o.y. in volume and 160.4% y.o.y. in value.

Of note, 52.3% of instant transfers involved the use of a single virtual code (clave virtual uniforme, CVU)—identifying a payer and/or a payee account. In August, there were 145.6 million instant transfers for an amount of ARS3.5 trillion, climbing 105.6% y.o.y. in volume, and 29.7% y.o.y. in value.

Additional Data

• Checks: Electronic checks (ECHEQs) accounted for 56.1% of cleared amounts.
• A total of 5.5 million checks (in paper and electronic form) were cleared for ARS1.9 trillion. ECHEQs’ share in total cleared checks was 30.9% in terms of volume (1.7 million) and 56.1% in terms of value (ARS1,121 billion).
• Cards: Debit card transactions virtually doubled credit card transactions.
• The number of debit card transactions reached 183.6 million for an amount of ARS623 billion, rising 21.7% y.o.y. in volume, and 12.3% y.o.y. in value.
• The number of credit card transactions reached 92.6 million for an amount of ARS633.9 billion, rising 2.3% y.o.y. in volume, and 8.6% y.o.y. in value.
• Transportation prepaid cards: There were 349.8 million trips (52.8% y.o.y.) paid with a SUBE card for a total of ARS5.8 billion (-1.3% y.o.y.)
• Electronic credit invoices for MSMEs (factura de crédito electrónica MiPyME, FCEM): In August, 88.5% of transactions involved 100.7 thousand electronic invoices in pesos for an amount of ARS174.9 billion under the system for the open transfer of e-invoices (sistema de circulación abierta, SCA).

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September 30, 2022