Debit card

It is used to pay for products and services. The debit card is linked to a bank account. Its main feature is that the amount paid is instantly debited from the bank account.

Moreover, the debit card can also be used at ATMs to check balances, make transfers, withdraw cash, pay utility bills or credit the SUBE transportation card, among other transactions. Stores, companies, professionals and self-employed workers that carry out transactions with end consumers must take debit cards (unless they take payments through QR codes). However, this obligation does not apply to stores located in districts with less than one thousand inhabitants and to transactions under one hundred pesos (Executive Order 933/18/Law 27,253).

No surcharges apply on debit card payments.

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Maximum interchange rates

Even though the caps on fees that credit or debit cards issuing banks may charge are set out in the Law on Credit Cards, the BCRA regulates the interchange rate on these payments, i.e., the portion of the fee that is allocated to each card issuing company.

A cap that is lower than that set out in the Law on Credit Cards allows a portion of the interchange rate to be allocated to the acquiring industry, which is in charge of broadening the payment network.

Therefore, it promotes greater competition and allows for greater development of this industry and, in turn, broadens payment networks and gives momentum to technological innovation.

The cap on the interchange rate is currently 0.60% for debit card transactions and 1.30% for credit card transactions.