New QR Codes to Make Transfers Easier

On August 19, 2021, the Argentine Central Bank (the “BCRA,” after its acronym in Spanish) published a press release on its website (the “Press Release”) announcing that current accounts belonging to individuals and legal entities in financial institutions and payment accounts of payment service providers (“PSPOCP,” after its acronym in Spanish) whose holders are legal entities must also be identified with a QR code.

When making immediate transfers or payments by transfer, the beneficiary’s account credentials can now be captured by reading the code, so that account info no longer has to be inserted manually.

According to the Press Release, businesses can already use the QR system to receive payments through payment aggregators or facilitators. However, this new QR system is different in that it directly identifies the business’ account, allowing immediate transfer with the lowest commission in the market.

This measure is adopted as part of the Transfers 3.0 Program, which should be fully operational by November 29, 2021.

Subsequently, under Communique “A” 7346, published on August 23, 2021, the BCRA formalized this measure and clarified that these QRs must meet current technical standards to make payments. Likewise, businesses have 60 calendar days to comply.