Fintech drives improvements in financial inclusion across Latin America.
When it comes to progress in financial inclusion, one country stood out in the 2024 Global Financial Inclusion Index: Argentina.
While the country still sits within the bottom half of the overall rankings (28th), it rose a whopping 14 places year over year.
Argentina's rise is due to its strong performance in the financial system support pillar, where it gained 33 points (the largest among all markets in the Index) and moved up 20 places to 22nd. This improvement is largely due to the accelerated adoption of real-time payment methods, where Argentina climbed 32 places to rank fourth.
| Overall | 2024 | YoY change |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 78.8 | +4.9 |
| Rank | 1 | = |
| Financial system | 2024 | YoY change |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75.7 | +5.1 |
| Rank | 4 | -1 |
| Government | 2024 | YoY change |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80.4 | +4.9 |
| Rank | 1 | = |
| Employer | 2024 | YoY change |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 85.7 | +4.0 |
| Rank | 4 | +1 |
23% of Argentinians say their preferred payment method is online payments; this has more than doubled since 2021.
Improvements in the government support pillar also contributed to Argentina’s overall performance, with significant gains in consumer championing regulation (rank up six places to 35th), and complexity of corporate taxation systems (rank up 28 places to eighth).
Recent legislative reforms explain these improvements. Argentina recently filed a new Bill on the Regulation of Online Intermediation Digital Services,2 which aims to enhance consumer protection by preventing harmful commercial practices, ensuring transparency in digital reputation systems, and prohibiting abusive clauses and imposed payment channels. This legislation, inspired by European regulations, is widely seen as representing a significant step in safeguarding competition and consumer rights in the digital market.
Equally, Argentina has made considerable strides in reforming its tax system. This is partly due to its loan arrangements with the International Monetary Fund, as the funding facility provided by the bank comes with the obligation to promote fiscal reforms, part of which involves tax compliance improvement plans and streamlining the tax system more generally.3
“Better financial inclusion and the economic benefits that come with a more financially connected population are an important part of the attractiveness of Latin America as an investment destination,” Shah says. “Its economic growth potential is paired with compelling valuations, which in Central and South America are approaching historic lows."
The financial inclusion advancements in Argentina are reflective of a broader trend across Latin American markets. Chile (27th) rose six places and Mexico (32nd) rose three places. Peru’s ranking fell this year by two places to 40th, Columbia (38th) rose one place, and Brazil’s ranking is flat following last year’s Index where it made some of the biggest leaps. However, in real terms, due to Israel’s exclusion from the data this year, Columbia would be flat, and Brazil would have fallen one place.
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