Argentina's Medio Electrónico de Pagos, known as MEP, is the real-time gross settlement system operated by the Banco Central de la República Argentina. Established in 1997, MEP processes an average of ARS 17.9 trillion per day according to BIS CPMI statistics for 2023, making it one of the most active settlement systems in Latin America by nominal value.
MEP operates from 08:00 to 20:00 Argentina time, with an extended window from 07:30 for CEDIP compensation balance operations. Every transaction is validated against available funds before acceptance, and once processed, settlement is irreversible. The system does not maintain automatic queues for rejected orders, meaning participants must ensure sufficient liquidity before submitting payment instructions.
Participation in MEP extends beyond traditional banks. The system admits financial institutions, electronic clearing houses, exchange operators, stock markets such as Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos, settlement agents, and government bodies including ANSES, Argentina's social security administration. The Argentine financial system currently comprises 75 financial entities, including 62 commercial banks and 13 non-banking financial companies, most of which maintain accounts at the central bank for MEP settlement.
MEP serves as the final settlement layer for a complex web of retail and wholesale payment systems. Transferencias 3.0, Argentina's QR-based instant payment platform launched with mandatory interoperability requirements, settles net positions through MEP. DEBIN, the country's instant direct debit system, and Interbanking, a private high-value clearinghouse operating since 1998, also rely on MEP for ultimate settlement in central bank money.
The scale of retail payment activity flowing through Argentina's settlement infrastructure has grown dramatically. BCRA data shows that immediate push transfers in Argentine pesos reached 666.3 million operations in November 2025, with a total value of ARS 70.1 trillion for that month alone. This represents year-over-year growth of 20.3 percent in volume and 18.2 percent in real value. Digital wallets and CVU accounts originated or received 73.8 percent of all transfers as of December 2024, illustrating the rapid shift toward non-bank payment initiation.
USD-denominated transfers through the system have also grown substantially, with 1.8 million operations totaling USD 2,638 million processed in November 2025. The dual-currency settlement capability reflects Argentina's economic structure, where dollar-denominated transactions play a significant role in commercial and financial activity.
Argentina's payment landscape is among the most complex in the region. QR-based payments through the PCT interoperable system reached 76.9 million operations in November 2025, growing 29.1 percent year over year, with 84 digital wallets and 61 PCT acceptors now registered in the ecosystem. Despite this retail payment growth, MEP's wholesale RTGS transaction volumes and exact participant counts remain outside public disclosure by BCRA, with detailed operational data available only through BIS CPMI statistical datasets.