Digital Payments & Fintech · Argentina
Fintech & digital payments rules in Argentina (2026)
Argentina shaded by its digital payments & fintech status
Argentina operates a clear, mandatory registration/licensing regime for fintech payment players: any Payment Service Provider offering payment accounts (virtual wallets, identified by CVU) must enroll in the BCRA's PSP registry and submit to its supervision, custody and AML rules. The BCRA also runs the interoperable instant-payment rail 'Transferencias 3.0' and, since Decree 353/2025, is building an Open Finance (finanzas abiertas) framework. Customer wallet balances must be held 100% in sight accounts at banks, with rules tightened materially through 2026.
Key points
Since 2020, all Payment Service Providers that offer payment accounts (PSPOCP) must register in the BCRA's Registro de Proveedores de Servicios de Pago and accept the BCRA's regulatory, control and sanctioning regime; the BCRA can deregister providers inactive for 180+ consecutive days.
Comunicación 'A' 8432 (in force 6 May 2026) created the 'PSPCP as a Service' category, requires PSPs to register and obtain prior BCRA authorization for the third parties whose wallets they operate, and to designate a full-time AML compliance officer reported to the UIF and BCRA.
Client balances in payment accounts (CVU) must be held immediately and 100% in sight accounts at financial entities; PSPs must pass through to clients the full return earned on those balances, and reserve/encaje requirements were reinforced in 2026.
The BCRA-run Transferencias 3.0 provides interoperable, irrevocable instant credit transfers (≤15 seconds, 24/7) with a single standardized QR code working across any wallet or bank app, settled via BCRA-authorized clearing administrators (e.g., Prisma, Red Link).
Decree 353/2025 (published 23 May 2025) created the Sistema de Finanzas Abiertas, a consent-based API data-sharing model with the BCRA as implementing authority; the BCRA and ARCA are still defining technical standards, so the regime is enabled in law but not yet fully operational.
Argentina has no separate stand-alone e-money-institution licence distinct from the PSP regime, and no specific 'buy now, pay later' (compra ahora, paga después) rulebook; BNPL is provided largely by registered PSPs and financial entities under general consumer-credit and BCRA payment rules rather than a bespoke regime.
Timeline - major decisions & events
Published in the Official Gazette, the rule formally regulates payment service providers that offer payment accounts through third parties, requiring identification of the sponsoring bank, prior authorization of partners, and tougher fit-and-proper and supervision standards. It is the most significant overhaul of the PSP licensing/registration regime since 2020.
Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina ↗The central bank ordered financial institutions and PSPs offering digital wallets to deploy mechanisms to detect suspicious or unusual user activity to mitigate fraud, strengthening consumer protection across virtual wallets. Entities were given a transition period to adapt their systems.
BCRA ↗The central bank adjusted the framework governing immediate-redemption money-market funds and idle balances held in digital wallets, reshaping how fintechs can offer yield on customer cash. The move altered the economics of the leading virtual-wallet remunerated-balance products.
Infobae ↗The BCRA modified the client-funds administration regime for payment service providers offering payment accounts, eliminating the obligation to pass through to clients the yield earned on the peso sight accounts where their funds are deposited. It reversed a key 2023 consumer-yield rule.
Bomchil ↗The central bank required digital wallets to remunerate idle customer balances, extending deposit-like yield obligations to fintech payment accounts. The rule was later softened by Communication "A" 8038 in 2024.
Infobae ↗The BCRA prohibited payment service providers that offer payment accounts from carrying out or facilitating transactions with crypto assets, and from offering them in their apps or websites, citing risks to users and the financial system. It extended to fintechs the crypto ban first imposed on banks in 2022.
BCRA ↗The BCRA prohibited financial institutions from conducting or facilitating client transactions with crypto assets not authorized by a competent national regulator or the BCRA. It established Argentina's restrictive supervisory stance toward crypto in the regulated payments/banking system.
BCRA ↗The BCRA established a specific regime for digital/virtual wallets offered by banks or PSPs and created a mandatory registry for wallets enabling instant QR-based payments. Providers already operating had until 15 April 2022 to register.
BCRA ↗Approved by Communication "A" 7153 (30 Oct 2020) and effective 7 Dec 2020, the open instant-payments scheme introduced a universal interoperable QR and the "pago con transferencia" instant-transfer payment, letting any bank or PSP account pay to any other to expand digital payments and financial inclusion.
BCRA ↗Issued weeks after the foundational PSP rule, it refined the definitions, reporting duties and operating conditions for payment service providers, including the fund-segregation and registration framework. Together with "A" 6859 it formed Argentina's first dedicated fintech-payments rulebook.
BCRA ↗The BCRA created the legal category of "payment service providers offering payment accounts" (PSPCP), requiring registration in a dedicated SEFyC registry (by 31 Mar 2020), 100% segregation of client funds in peso sight accounts, and immediate availability of funds on request. This is the foundational licensing/registration framework for Argentine fintech.
BCRA ↗Argentina - other topics
Last verified 5/23/2026 · Orientation, not legal advice - verify against the primary sources linked above. Explore the full world map →