Get alerts on this situation

We’ll email you as it develops, and you can follow the whole thread from day one.

Unsubscribe anytime.

[SITUATION] · [ACTIVE]

2 clusters · 16 sources · 12 days · First seen 18 days ago · Last updated 6 days ago

Digital payments expansion in Argentina and Chile

Entities: Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA) · Mastercard · Equilibra · Argentina · Banco Central de la República Argentina

Overview

In mid‑July 2026 the Argentine Subsecretariat of Development and Entrepreneurship partnered with the Banco de la Nación Argentina to hold a free workshop in Concordia, training entrepreneurs and merchants on digital payment methods and cybersecurity. The event highlighted that digital wallets already serve roughly 79 % of Argentine consumers and emphasized fintech tools—QR codes, interest‑bearing balances and cryptocurrency links—as drivers of financial inclusion and formalisation.

Two weeks later a regional payments report showed that instant transfers now comprise 65.6 % of Argentina’s National Payments System activity, with 61.4 % of those transactions processed through CVU virtual wallets. Interoperable digital wallets grew more than 40 % year‑on‑year, reaching 90 varieties. In Chile, merchant card acceptance and electronic transfers have surged, while fraud complaints have hit a decade high, prompting stronger cybersecurity measures. Together the snapshots trace a rapid escalation in digital wallet usage across both countries, underscoring both the benefits of broader adoption and the emerging regulatory and security challenges.

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[○ 1 SOURCE] Immediate transfers represent 65.6% of all operations in Argentina's National Payments System. (BCRA data)
[○ 1 SOURCE] 61.4% of immediate transfers are made via a Uniform Virtual Key (CVU) wallet. (BCRA data)
[○ 1 SOURCE] 90 interoperable digital wallets operate in Argentina's Transferencias 3.0 scheme. (BCRA report)
[○ 1 SOURCE] 79% of Argentinians used a digital payment or fintech solution in the previous six months. (Mastercard study)
[○ 1 SOURCE] More than 634,000 Chilean merchants accepted cards in 2025. (ChilePay Radiografía de los Pagos)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Chile's Automated Compensation Center processed about 5.9 million electronic transfers daily in 2024. (ChilePay Radiografía de los Pagos)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Open finance is ranked among the top three regulatory challenges by 50% of Chile's payment ecosystem participants. (ChilePay Radiografía de los Pagos survey)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Fraud complaints in Chile's payment media reached the highest level in more than a decade. (HackerCar article on Chilean payments)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Interoperable transfer payments in Argentina grew more than 40% year‑over‑year. (BCRA data)

Timeline

6 days ago

[BUSINESS] 14 sources
Argentina's Virtual Wallets Dominate Payments as Debt Delinquency Rises
Argentina's virtual wallets handle 65.6% of payments, with 90 wallets operating and 79% digital adoption, while 2.9 million users face credit arrears, concentrating 66.5% of unrecoverable debt.
18 days ago

[TECHNOLOGY] 2 sources
Argentina expands digital payment adoption and security training
Argentina holds a digital‑payments workshop for entrepreneurs and reports 79 % consumer use of digital wallets, citing practicality, security and fintech incentives.

Sources

360radio.com.co · chacodiapordia.com · chocale.cl · concordiadirecto.com · diariodelsur.com.co · elmauleinforma.cl · ensemblepourlaville.be · excelsior.com.mx · hackercar.com · hsbnoticias.com · lavanguardia.com · okanal.oslobodjenje.ba · perfil.com · quilmespresente.com · radiobicentenario.com.ar · somosjujuy.com.ar