The use of debit cards grew by 23.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022 in Argentina, while the withdrawal of cash through ATMs contracted by 4.72 percentage points in the same period, according to data from the Prism Media Index Payment.
The statistical information available to the company, from the different access points of its credentials, indicated that “the number of transactions with debit cards grew 23.20% in the comparison between the first quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2021, while increased 1.50% in the case of credit cards, and it was reduced by 63.21% in prepaid cards in the same period”.
According to the survey, the changes occurred “presumably due to the modification in the payment mechanism of the Food Card, which last year began to be deposited directly into the bank accounts where they receive from the AUH and the AUE.”
The percentage of purchases in consumption with a debit card also increased, which was 52.86% in the first quarter of 2022 against 46.70% in the same period of 2021, while the withdrawal by ATMs decreased from 49 .85% to 43.60% between the first quarter of 2021 and 2022.
“In the first quarter of 2022, the year-on-year growth in the number of credit and debit card transactions that was glimpsed in the last quarter of 2021 continues,” he said. Julian BallarinoHead of Institutional Relations at Prisma Medios de Pago.
On the whole, debit card transactions accounted for 49.20% of transaction volume with credentials in the first quarter of 2022 against 45.43% in the first quarter of 2021, while the volume of money operated through credit cards went from 51.3% in the first quarter of 2021 to 49.42% in the first quarter of 2022.
“Debit card purchases remain above 50% of the general volume of this type of card,” Ballarino added.
Finally, the items that grew the most year-on-year in card transactions were Travel, Tourism and Airlines with 48% and Restaurants with 35%.
The Prisma Means of Payment index includes data on the products managed by the company, such as POS terminals, the Payway payment platform, the Banelco ATM network and the electronic payment of taxes and services in PagoMisCuentas, in addition to weighting it with market information and statistics from INDEC and the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic.
