Banks Allowed to Take Fixed-Term Deposits from Non-Customers

The Argentine Central Bank, by Communique “A” 6667, has authorized financial institutions to take term deposits from clients who are not clients of such financial institution through their website or mobile app. The funds to create the term deposit will be debited from the client´s bank account in Argentine pesos even when it is with another bank.

The investment in Argentine pesos must be instructed by the customer through the website or mobile app of the financial institution where the deposit will be made. The investor must provide their tax identification number and the identification number of the account from which the funds will be debited, indicating the type of investment, term, principal of the investment and contact email address.

Once the operation has been instructed by the client, the depositary financial institution must issue a request for funds to the financial institution where the beneficiary holds such funds, which must be accepted by the customer electronically or through their own online banking system. Once the requirement has been accepted, the amount of the investment is debited from the customer’s account and transferred to the depositary financial institution. At maturity, the depositary financial institution must transfer the principal and interest to the account of the customer from where the funds were debited.

The financial institutions must not (i) charge any kind of commissions or additional fees to the client for using this alternative, or (ii) set a maximum amount of deposits for this type of investment.

This channel created for term deposits must be implemented by the financial institutions prior to April 30, 2019. 

This new alternative for taking term investments seeks to promote savings in Argentine pesos and strengthen competition between financial institutions, enabling customers to access more favorable interest rates.