On August 24, the Central Bank issued Communication “A” 7825, through which it establishes that payment service providers (PSP) that offer payment accounts must compensate profitability for the balances in pesos of the deposit accounts in the financial institutions in which their clients' funds are deposited, transferring that profit entirely to the clients.
According to data from the latest Trader Payments Report prepared by the BCRA, the balance deposited in this type of accounts is $121 billion. Due to a previous provision, from 2021 the money had to be deposited in a demand account of a financial entity; and as of January 1, 2022, 100% had to be stored and immobilized in the BCRA, at the disposal of its holders, to preserve them and provide greater security to users. In September of that same year, through the Com. “A” 7611, the BCRA enabled the possibility of integrating 45% of that total in National Treasury Bonds in pesos.
Digital wallets have two ways of capturing savings: through investment accounts (users invest their balance in common investment funds that generate daily returns) or through transactional accounts (to make payments or send money to other accounts). It is the latter on which the latest measures taken by the BCRA are applied.
“The measure does not cover investment accounts that enable wallets and allow savers to obtain a return on deposited funds. These investment accounts are maintained under the same conditions,” the Entity points out.
The decision made by the Board of Directors of the highest financial authority indicates that the performance must be accrued periodically, although it remains to be defined how often it will be and in which accounts.