2025-08-28 | A 8310

Circular CONAU 1-1692 R.I. Card Payment Acquirers

The Bank of the Argentine Republic requires payment service providers performing acquiring functions to submit a new monthly information regime detailing card payment operations and point-of-sale terminal inventory. The updated reporting framework mandates precise data on transaction volumes, original currencies, merchant category codes, and terminal usage statuses, with amounts recorded in thousands. These modifications take effect for the December 2025 reporting period, establishing a submission deadline of January 22, 2026.

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Banco Central de la Republica Argentina

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"Year of the Reconstruction of the Argentine Nation" COMMUNICATION "A" 8310 28/08/2025 CARD PAYMENT ACQUIRERS: Ref.: Circular CONAU 1-1692: I.R. Card Payment Acquirers


We address you to inform you about a new monthly frequency requirement that payment service providers performing the acquiring function, according to the definition established in the consolidated text of regulations on "Payment Service Providers", must comply with.

The aforementioned modifications will take effect for information corresponding to the December 2025 period, with a due date of January 22, 2026.

The Operational Instructions complementing this communication will be disseminated in due course.

The annex includes the sheets corresponding to the new consolidated text.

We extend our respectful greetings. BANK OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC Rodrigo J. Danessa, Chief Manager of Information Regime and Information Centers Estela M. del Pino Suárez, Deputy General Manager of Information Regime and Protection of Financial Services Users ANEXO (ANNEX)

The requirement must be submitted monthly, starting from the commencement of operations, with its due date falling on the 22nd day of the month following the reporting period (or the next business day if applicable).

Amounts will be recorded in thousands without decimals. For rounding purposes, values will be incremented by one unit when the first digit of the fractional part is equal to or greater than 5, discarding the remainder if lower.

Information will be submitted in accordance with the regulations on "Submission of Information to the Bank of the Argentine Republic".

B.C.R.A. INFORMATION REGIME PAYMENT SERVICE PROVIDERS CARD PAYMENT ACQUIRERS SECTION I – GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS Version: 1st | COMMUNICATION "A" 8310 | Validity: 01/12/2025 | Page 1

Section A: Acquiring Operations Data must be reported by totaling operations for purchases made domestically with cards issued both domestically and abroad (quantity and amount in the original currency), for the reporting month.

Requested data:

  1. Unique Tax Identification Key (C.U.I.T.) of the sub-acquirer/aggregator: must be provided only when they participate in the operation.
  2. Payment instrument code used: according to Table 1.
  3. Payment scheme code used: according to Table 2.
  4. Place of issue of the card used: according to Table 3.
  5. C.U.I.T. of the entity that issued the card to the customer (financial entity, non-financial credit or purchase card issuer, or payment service provider): must be reported when the card was issued domestically.
  6. Initiation method / access channel: according to Table 4.
  7. Payment modality used: according to Table 5.
  8. Code of the registered interoperable digital wallet provider used by B.C.R.A.: will be reported in cases of QR code reading operations.
  9. Merchant category code receiving funds according to Table 6 / MCC (*).
  10. Total quantity of operations.
  11. Original currency: SWIFT code.
  12. Total amount by original currency.

(*) MCC: Merchant Category Codes (MCC) are four-digit numbers assigned to businesses by credit card companies when a merchant begins accepting card payments. These codes classify the merchant according to the type of goods or services offered.

B.C.R.A. INFORMATION REGIME PAYMENT SERVICE PROVIDERS CARD PAYMENT ACQUIRERS SECTION II – PARTICULAR INSTRUCTIONS Version: 1st | COMMUNICATION "A" 8310 | Validity: 01/12/2025 | Page 1

Section B: Information on point-of-sale terminal (POS) inventory. Data must be reported by totaling the quantity of POS terminals for the reporting month.

Only the inventory of physical terminals on loan or owned by merchants must be reported. The following must be included: • Point-of-sale terminals (POS) • Mobile point-of-sale terminals (mPOS) • Integrated payment systems

Requested data:

  1. POS usage according to Table 7.
  2. Quantity of POS terminals.

B.C.R.A. INFORMATION REGIME PAYMENT SERVICE PROVIDERS CARD PAYMENT ACQUIRERS SECTION III – TABLES Version: 1st | COMMUNICATION "A" 8310 | Validity: 01/12/2025 | Page 1

Table 1

Payment InstrumentCode
Credit card101
Debit card102
Prepaid card103
Purchase card104

Table 2: Payment schemes The brand code assigned in the table named "Card Brands Table" available on the exclusive BCRA website (https://www3.bcra.gob.ar) must be integrated.

Table 3

Place of IssueCode
Argentina201
Foreign/Abroad202

Table 4

Initiation Method/ChannelCode
Automatic Debit301
E-Commerce302
POS - Magnetic stripe303
POS - EMV chip304
POS - Contactless cards305
POS - Mobile device contactless (NFC)306
POS - QR307
Printed QR308
Telephone sales309
Others399

B.C.R.A. INFORMATION REGIME PAYMENT SERVICE PROVIDERS CARD PAYMENT ACQUIRERS SECTION III – TABLES Version: 1st | COMMUNICATION "A" 8310 | Validity: 01/12/2025 | Page 2

Table 5

ModalityCode
In one payment (Lump sum)401
In installments402

Table 6

Included MCC CategoryCode
Airlines and air carriers (3501/4511)501
Bars and nightclubs (5811/5813)502
Casinos, lotteries and gambling (7995)503
Gas stations (5541)504
Pharmacies, drugstores and perfumeries (5122/5912/5977)505
Hotels and lodging (7011)506
Charitable organizations (8398)507
Payment of taxes, rents and fees (9311)508
Restaurants and take-out food (5812/5814/5816)509
Freight and transport services, taxis, local and suburban passenger transport (4111/4121/4214)510
Telecommunications and other communication services (4812/4814/4899)511
Financial services, collections, bank transfers and insurance (4829/6012/6300/7321)512
Professional services (8999)513
Public services (4900)514
Supermarkets, grocery stores, bakeries, butcher shops and other food stores (5311/5411/5422/5441/5462/5499)515
Electronics and computer stores, music, records and video stores (5732/5734/5943)516
Clothing stores (5611/5621/5651/5691/5699)517
Home improvement stores (5251)518
Other unclassified merchants519
Other unclassified services520

Table 7

POS UsageCode
Active601
Inactive (no operations in the month)602