Although the Labor chapter of President Javier Milei’s DNU remained in a sort of limbo following the Justice setback, the debate on “salary accounts” and the possibility of opening up the game so that other actors, In addition to banks, there remains the possibility of crediting salaries.
After ,banks have come out to warn about the “dangers” of crediting salaries into virtual wallets the Argentine Fintech Chamber intervened to underline its position. As one of the main arguments of Adeba, the banking group that brings together private capital banks of national origin operating in the country, is that the funds present in virtual wallets, unlike what happens in traditional institutions, “are not supported”, The fintech industry’s response is that the wallets “are safe and regulated.”
In a document presented on Thursday, the Fintech Chamber explained this supports “those initiatives promoted by the Executive that promote freedom of choicewhich strengthen the digitalisation of the economy and accelerate access to credit for the sectors that need it most.”
The group brings together a diversified world of companies linked to digital finance: from the giant Mercado Pago, to digital credit companies, passing through Ualá, which also operates with a banking license and is part of Adeba.
In the midst of the tug-of-war with “traditional” banks for an increasingly competitive businessthe Fintech Chamber has laid the groundwork for opening payroll accounts for other types of entities.”The inclusion of virtual accounts as a salary deposit option marks a milestone for Argentina’s financial services industry and is a change that the Chamber has supported for years,” he noted in a document.
“Its application will not only encourage competition between financial institutions (traditional banks and virtual wallets), but… will offer greater freedom to more than 9 million people, who today see limited options to receive remuneration for their work”, underlined the presentation which underlined that “6 out of ten Argentines” already operate with wallets “due to their ease of use, interoperability and very useful functions, as bills paid.”
At this point the Chamber has set its sights on the center of competition that the sector currently has with the banks. “More than 15 million users have opened virtual wallet investment accounts over the past four years to access daily returnsit is for your balances in pesos at sight, an alternative to protect yourself from the impact of inflation which, unlike a fixed maturity, allows you to use the money at any time.
The fight between banks and fintechs draws mutual accusations. The former warn that the rules and laws that regulate their activity do not apply to those who operate in the digital finance segment. In this sense the Chamber specified:“Fintech companies are regulated. Payment accounts are regulated by the BCRA and are absolutely safe. In fact, 100% of their funds are deposited in bank accounts, so they share many of the regulations and controls that banks must operate.”
“Balances invested in Mutual Funds comply with the rules of the National Securities Commission (CNV),” the business group added.
Outside of the DNU’s labor chapter, there have been other Executive Branch initiatives promoting the sector. One of these, which appears in the Omnibus bill, talks about tax advantages for small businesses that charge with digital payment methods.
“Raising the limits of withholding taxes on electronic transactions up to 10,000 UVA per month (about 4.6 million dollars, currently) will lighten the tax burden of small and medium-sized taxpayers and favor the formalization of many transactions that today are carried out in cash, generating more financial information and, consequently, better access to formal credit,” said the Fintech Chamber, recalling that two out of three money transfers are made to or from an account with a uniform virtual key (CVU).
Source: Clarin
