What is the “digital corralito” that banks are afraid of due to labor reform?

Financial institutions warned that an article in the bill could create an unprecedented phenomenon of immobility of funds

12/23/2025 – 08:59

The debate about Labor reform in Argentina In the last few hours, a new source of conflict has emerged that goes beyond the purely union sphere and goes straight to the heart of the financial system. The country’s major banking chambers raised alarm bells over the possibility that Congress could approve a major change in the way workers perceive their salaries, which could lead to a phenomenon they have already mentioned the world’s first “digital playpen”.

The problem lies in changing the Article 35 of the bill, which would allow companies to deposit salaries directly into virtual wallet payment accounts (PSP) and not exclusively into bank salary accountsas is usually the case today. According to the companies, this massive shift of funds to digital platforms would not only affect their profitability, but also threaten the liquidity of the entire system and the ability to lend to the real economy.

Labor reform: Why banks talk about a “digital corralito”.

The term “digital playpen” was coined by Association of Public and Private Banks of the Argentine Republic (ABAPPRA) to describe a scenario in which Money is visible in mobile applications, but “non-existent” for the traditional investment and financing cycle.. The technical explanation lies in how funds in virtual wallets work: since PSPs are not financial institutions, they must hold 100% of their customers’ deposits with the central bank or invest in Common Investment Funds (FCI).

Since the money is immobilized in these very short-term funds to ensure immediate availability to the user, This capital is no longer available to banks to convert into personal loans, mortgage loans or SME financing.. For the sector’s chambers, this creates a “shadow banking system” that absorbs deposits but does not return them to society in the form of loans, limiting economic growth and drying up productive financing space.

Digital Playpen: The Risk of Cash and Financial Stability

Another critical point that bankers highlight is the logistics of physical money within the country. Public and private banks are currently responsible Supplying ATM networksa task that requires traveling thousands of kilometers each week to reach remote locations. They warn that if salaries no longer flow through the banking system, the cost structure of securing cash in branches would become economically unviable, particularly hitting pensioners and workers in rural areas who rely on cash.

Of the Fintech sectorOn the contrary, they assure it The aim of the measure is to democratize access to financial services and give workers freedom of choice. However, banks insist that competition is unequal as they must adhere to strict minimum capital and security requirements, which do not always apply to virtual wallets. With parliamentary debate postponed until the second week of February, the war between banks and digital platforms promises to be one of the central issues of the summer on Argentina’s economic agenda