The Argentine card payment market closed the first quarter of 2025 with significant contrasts between credit and debit card usage, reflecting both macroeconomic dynamics and shifting consumer preferences in the context of persistent inflation and changing banking strategies.
Debit card transactions declined sharply in volume, with 597 million operations registered between January and March 2025, down from 748 million in the same period of the previous year. This represents a 20.2% year-on-year decrease in transaction count. However, the total peso amount transacted through debit cards rose 45.7% year-on-year, from AR$ 9.7 trillion to AR$ 14.1 trillion. This nominal increase is largely driven by the acceleration in inflation, rather than by a real expansion in consumption or card usage.
Credit & Debit Card Market in Argentina Research Report
In contrast, the credit card segment showed robust growth across both metrics. The number of credit card transactions reached 502 million in Q1 2025, up 12.6% from the same quarter in 2024. In monetary terms, credit card spending surged to AR$ 23.6 trillion, more than doubling the AR$ 11.6 trillion recorded a year earlier—a 103.7% year-on-year increase. As with debit cards, a significant portion of this nominal growth is attributable to inflationary pressures.
The use of credit cards also revealed an evolving consumer behavior in terms of payment channels. Between January and March 2025, 42% of credit card spending occurred via POS and QR systems, while 33% took place through eCommerce. Automatic debits accounted for 13%, with the remaining 13% falling into miscellaneous categories. This distribution underscores the growing digitalization of financial services, although in-person spending continues to dominate the market.
From a competitive standpoint, Banco de la Nación Argentina emerged as the top performer in expanding its credit card loan portfolio, increasing its market share by 1.29 percentage points during the quarter. It was followed by Banco de la Provincia de Córdoba (+0.25), Banco Macro (+0.22), Banco de Servicios Financieros (+0.15), and Banco Hipotecario (+0.08). These institutions have actively gained ground in a highly concentrated market, where the ten leading banks control over 84% of total credit card financing.
In terms of total credit cards issued, the market remains concentrated, with Banco Nación, Banco Provincia de Buenos Aires, Santander, Galicia, and BBVA jointly managing 59% of the portfolio. Similarly, debit card issuance is dominated by Banco Nación, Banco Provincia, Banco Macro, Galicia, and Naranja X, which together control 60% of the market.
On the debit side, Banco Galicia led the quarter in terms of growth in card issuance, increasing its market share by 0.62 percentage points, benefitting also from the integration of the former HSBC Argentina portfolio. It was followed by Brubank (+0.28), Banco Credicoop (+0.14), Naranja X (+0.12), and Banco Hipotecario (+0.10), all of which have shown active repositioning strategies within this segment.
These figures highlight a banking environment in transition, shaped by inflation-driven metrics, shifts in consumer behavior toward credit instruments, and intensifying competition among issuers. As inflation continues to distort nominal comparisons, understanding real usage patterns and strategic positioning becomes crucial for stakeholders in Argentina’s financial ecosystem.