I wait the way Argentines choose to pay and manage their money serves, among other things, as thermometer to understand how the local economy works. In February, at the pace of a sharp decline in activity and consumption, fewer cash withdrawals in banks compared to what was seen the previous month.
The data might seem encouraging: amid the rise of digital wallets, Argentines have finally decided to reduce their use of cash. The official data, however, complete this photo with another detail that at least attracts attention: although a slight growth was recorded in February, in quantities and amounts, of transfers between people, The use of payments generated via QR code is decreasing.
The data comes from the latest Retail Payments Report published monthly by the Central Bank and corresponds to the second month of the year. Coincidentally, February is a month where, seasonally, the demand for pesos decreases. But the numbers put it at yellow sign to observe the progress.
The report shows a drop of more than 20% in the amounts withdrawn in the Argentine banking ATM network, compared to the previous month. While the average amount per withdrawal remained stable compared to what was recorded in January, around $20,400, number of operations and total amount traded: In January, 109.4 million withdrawals were made in the network of ATMs operating in the country, a figure that dropped to 89.4 million last month.
“Extra-bank” withdrawals are also decreasing, that is, those made at supermarket checkouts and in pharmacy chains: they were made in February 10% less of operations, which according to the latest data reached 5.5 million, compared to what was recorded the previous month.
The Central data also shows that, although the different options for managing pesos from your mobile phone are gaining importance in a year-on-year comparison, there is a very slight growth in the use of immediate bank transfers and a decline in the use of QR payments.
For example, the total amount of immediate transfers made between people increased by only 0.5% in the second month of the year, while the number of transactions increased by 0.9%. On the contrary, it showed a decline in payments with transfers via interoperable QR, the system that the BCRA has promoted in recent years, both on amounts and transactions.
The Central report shows that, before the rate cut that Santiago Bausili faced in the second week of March and which affected all peso yields, The position of virtual wallets as an investment vehicle through mutual funds was maintained. There are 16.7 million payment accounts in the country, with invested balances of $1.1 trillion, as of January.
“Both concepts, considered together, They represent 3.45% of total private sector deposits, which was $40.8 billion in the month mentioned above. Currently, 144 PSPs offering payment accounts are incorporated into the register,” notes Central. This data shows almost no changes compared to what was observed in December.
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Source: Clarin
