Circular SINAP 1-224: National Payments System – Payment Services and Transfers – Complementary Rules – Adjustments

"AÑO DE LA DEFENSA DE LA VIDA, LA LIBERTAD Y LA PROPIEDAD" "AÑO DE LA DEFENSA DE LA VIDA, LA LIBERTAD Y LA PROPIEDAD"

COMMUNICATION “A” 8162 19/12/2024

TO FINANCIAL ENTITIES,
TO PAYMENT SERVICE PROVIDERS,
TO PAYMENT SERVICE PROVIDERS THAT OFFER PAYMENT ACCOUNTS, TO ADMINISTRATORS OF ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFER SCHEMES, TO PAYMENT ACCEPTORS WITH TRANSFER, TO CARD PAYMENT ACQUIRERS, TO PAYMENT INSTRUMENT AGGREGATORS:
CC:
OTHER OPEN-SCHEME PREPAID CARD ISSUERS

Ref.: Circular
SINAP 1-224:
National Payments System – Payment Services.
National Payments System – Transfers. National Payments System – Transfers - complementary rules. Adjustments.

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We address you to inform you that this Institution adopted the resolution that, in its pertinent part, establishes:

“1. Establish that the maximum deadline for financial entities, payment service providers that offer payment accounts, and other open-scheme prepaid card issuers to credit the amount of each sale made through the use of said cards in the checking or open payment account held in the name of the adhered provider or merchant shall be 2 (two) business days, counted from the date of the corresponding purchase by the cardholder or beneficiary of the prepaid card.

2. Establish that the maximum deadline for sub-acquirers to credit the amount of payments made with their intervention in the account held in the name of the adhered provider or merchant shall not exceed 1 (one) business day from when the sub-acquirer receives the funds.

The scope of this point excludes the crediting of payments processed through sub-acquirers that correspond to:
a. purchases made through e-commerce platforms; and/or b. payments with transfer and other immediate transfers, which in all cases must be made available to the payment beneficiary within the 15-second deadline regulated in point 2.2.12. of the consolidated text on National Payments System – Transfers, even if the payment is processed without the intervention of an administrator of the immediate fund transfer scheme – that is, in the closed loop modality.

3. Render ineffective the requirement that the fees charged by acceptors to merchants be the same within each commercial activity or sector, established in subsection ii) of

-2- point 5.2.3.1. of the consolidated text on National Payments System – Transfers – complementary rules.

4. Establish that card issuers and account providers must include in account summaries, movement details, and other settlements that they deliver, display, or make available to their clients, the clear and unambiguous identification of the merchant where the payment was made. To this end, all actors involved in payment processing – such as, among others, acquirers, sub-acquirers, acquiring processor, issuing processor, issuer, and account provider – must include, transmit, and process the information necessary for this purpose.

5. Provide that, within the framework of what is regulated in point 7.3. of the consolidated text on National Payments System – Payment Services, when the messaging of card scheme administrators contemplates fields and/or codes that allow identifying the interoperable digital wallet from which the payment originated and that a QR code was used as an initiation modality, all actors involved in payment processing – such as, among others, acquirers, sub-acquirers, acquiring processor, issuing processor, and issuer – must use them when transmitting and processing the information of each transaction involving this form of payment.

6. Establish that points 1 and 2 of this communication will enter into force for payments made from 01/08/25 inclusive, with the exception of prepaid card payments made at merchants that hold the status of micro and small enterprise according to the rules on “Determination of the status of micro, small, or medium enterprise”, whose validity will be for payments made from 01/03/25 inclusive.

7. Establish that points 4 and 5 of this communication will enter into force on 01/06/25.”

Regarding this, we send you the sheets that, in replacement of those previously provided, must be incorporated into the consolidated texts of the reference. In this sense, it is recalled that on this Institution’s website www.bcra.gob.ar, by accessing “Financial System - LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK - Consolidations and summaries - Consolidated texts of general regulations”, the modifications made with text highlighted in special characters (strikethrough and bold) will be found.

We greet you attentively.

CENTRAL BANK OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC
Matías A. Gutiérrez Girault Luis A. D’Orio
Manager of Payment Systems Principal Manager of Payment Systems and Current Accounts