PSP Licensing in Argentina: A New Era for Fintech Regulation

Argentina set up the year of 2024 with a new government but ailing deep economic woes. High prices were putting the public’s pockets under pressure, with a considerable reduction in their purchasing power. However, one area seems to have truly come up on its own, which is having a presence across the globe: The digital money applications and platforms.

Because they were first to market or very near it with many of the innovations, these companies could pivot quickly in an ever-changing regulatory environment. This added trust value in their favor in the eyes of the public and hence earned them a position in personal finance arrangements for spending and saving in everyday life.

Expanding of digital payments

An important development of the year 2024 was the simplification of money sending via QR codes. Though initially, this facility was related more with debit purchases, but updates as of April now allowed for payment with credits. Stores would need to make it mandatory to accept all kinds of QR payments via credit, irrespective of the mobile app. The rules have become more stringent, disallowing companies from levying extra charges depending on the app chosen or delaying the money sent to the merchants. The same conditions were later stretched to prepaid cards.

Another action was taken in this direction by the authorities at the end of the year, where rules were put in place so that people can use their mobile phones to pay for a bus or subway ticket ride in Buenos Aires. Data from December pointed out that already every one in five rides had started paying in this way.

Online payment revolution

Argentina is now the global stage for users who want to leave small thank-you notes or tips via apps. Most service workers are obliged to give their customers the option of leaving a tip through an app, meaning the process would be straightforward for service providers as well as customers.

The central bank also regulated the time frame in which businesses would have access to funds collected on prepaid account transactions. Initially, this process used to take more than two weeks. At the end of 2024, it was supposed to be reduced to two days. 

In early 2025, even debit dollar payments, which were almost unknown in previous years, were allowed to be made by QR scans. 

Another innovation is the new tool, aimed at recurring payments for services. It enabled people to sign such a contract for automatic fixed-rate debits due for services or products from accounts either in peso or in foreign currency.

Sharing of data and cooperation

Banks and other online services are starting to share your account information with each other more easily. They do this using secure connections that let their computer systems “talk” to one another.

This sharing is good because it means you don’t have to fill out the same forms or provide the same details every time you switch between different apps or services. With your permission, companies can just use the information they already have.

Sharing your personal details across many different platforms can be risky if it’s not done carefully. Even though lawmakers are trying to update old privacy rules to keep your information safe, there isn’t one big, clear national law right now that explains exactly how all this data sharing should work. Instead, individual companies are mostly figuring it out on their own.

New ground for online coins

Over the years, people have devised alternative modes of storing value in the face of turmoil in prices and strict currency controls. As has been popularly expressed, people were looking at digital tokens pegged against stable currencies, but their purchase was severely restricted by the reserve bank.

That aside, as usual in 2024, the atmosphere changed. Policies became a bit more certain to be oriented towards fostering innovation in this area. That included specifying who could offer services in relation to tokens and how those entities should be organized and standards of safety practice to be followed.

First major updates to that end began in March when the national supervisory authority opened an official registry for service providers with activities related to tokens. Early 2025 saw the release of new regulations clarifying the classification of providers, segregation of client funds from business use, and basic capital levels required depending on the type of service.

In the same vein, beginning now, service providers would have to express, with immediate effect, full and clear information about the risks linked to these types of offerings on their websites and social channels. That would make users know that these are not traditional investment tools.

Business contributions and Bitcoin bets

A small and meaningful change also occurred in how people can form companies. In Buenos Aires, new rules allowed business founders to use online tokens as part of their startup capital in case they follow strict documentation and use platforms registered under the new guidelines.

Also, for the first time, local traders could licitly buy and sell price-based bets linked to Bitcoin. These contracts don’t involve owning the token itself but allow speculation on its value using the local currency. These were made available to the general public in April, after being restricted to select backers in earlier months.

Tokenization

There is a growing interest in converting physical goods into tokens that can be more easily exchanged. These tools could be used across many sectors.

Although two bills proposing broader rules for token systems failed to gain traction in Congress, momentum continues thanks to pressure from industry groups. They’re calling for a test zone where rules can be developed alongside regulators to support long-term innovation.

New rules to stop monetary crime

The organizations that keep an eye on monetary systems changed how they try to stop people from misusing new ways of sharing money.

For more than ten years, banks and other financial institutions had to report any suspicious online transactions. But in 2024, this responsibility grew. Now, even newer online services also have to report doubtful activity. They are also required to set up their own internal systems to spot risky behavior.

On top of that, in December, new basic rules were put in place for companies that issue credit cards, process payments, and offer store credit. This shows that there’s a bigger push to fix any weaknesses in these newer ways of handling money that criminals could try to use.