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3w ago

Credit Cards Overtake Debit in Argentina on Rising Defaults and Digital Adoption

Household repayment pressures are rising, leading banks to replace Cuota Simple with private installment offerings.

La expansión del crédito en Argentina en los últimos 15 meses se vive con tarjeta en mano en la gran mayoría de los hogares.
La participación de la tarjeta de débito cayó a un 35,95%
compra con tarjeta
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Overview

  • Credit cards accounted for 63.22% of total card transaction volume in Q2 2025, up from 61.03% in Q1 and 57.79% a year earlier, while debit’s share fell to 35.95%.
  • Installment purchases climbed to 34.84% of credit-card transactions in the quarter as banks introduced longer-term plans after the Cuota Simple program ended on June 30.
  • Contactless payments reached about 46% of all transactions and 80% of in-person purchases on Payway terminals in Q2, and QR-code payments jumped 36.1% in number and 55.9% in volume year-on-year.
  • The delinquency rate for credit-card bill payments doubled from 1.9% to 3.8% over the past year, underscoring growing household strain.
  • Banks have rolled out private-sector financing alternatives to state-backed credit and face uncertainty from the Central Bank’s high interest-rate policy and currency market interventions.