The%20amount%20of%20checks%20rejected%20due to%20missing%20of%20funds%20showed%C3%B3%20a%20significant jump%20during%202025.%20Of%20agreement%20with%20the%20%C3%BLast%20Report%20Monthly%20of%20RetailPayments%20of%20Banco%20Central,%20in%20December%20were%20rejected%20119.285%20checks%20for%20the reason%20%E2%80%9Cwithout%20funds%20sufficient%E2%80%9D,%20which%20implies%C3%B3%20a%20increase%20year-on-year%20of205.2%%20in%20quantities.
Measured%20in%20amounts,%20the%20growth%20was%20a%C3%BAn%20higher:%20the%20value%20total%20of%20those%20rejectionsascendi%C3%B3%20a%20$347,638%20million,%20with%20a%20up%20of%20311,3%%20interannual%20in%20t%C3%A9nominal terms%20and%20of%20212,6%%20in%20t%C3%A9real%20terms.
The BCRA’s own control board summarizes this behavior by pointing out that checks rejected without funds more than tripled in the last year, both in number of operations and amounts involved.The data stands out within the payment system for its magnitude and for contrasting with the more moderate evolution of other instruments.
According to%C3%BAn%20the%20official%20report,%20in%20December%20were%20compensated%20in%20total%205.36%20million%20checks%20%E2%80%94among%20f%C3%ADsicos%20and%20electr%C3%B3nicos%E2%80%94%20for%20a%20amount%20of%20$22.4%20trillion.%20Within%20ofthat%20universe,%20the%20rejections%20for%20lack%20of%20funds%20represented%20the%202.2%%20of%20total%20checks%20cleared%20in%20amounts%20and%20the%201.6%%20in%20amounts.%20Yes%20good%20la%20proportion%C3%B3nof%20the%20total%20remains%20limited,%20the%20dynamic%C3%A1mica%20year-on-year%20marks%20a pronounced acceleration%C3%B3n%20.
“The reason ‘without sufficient funds’ explained most of the growth in rejections,” details the Central Bank in the section dedicated to checks.The report adds that this category concentrates the largest increase both in quantities and amounts compared to December 2024.
The%20increase%20of%20rejections%20gives%20in%20a%20context%20of%20strong%20dominance%20of%20checkelectr%C3%B3nico%20(ECHEQ)%20within%20of%20system.%20In%20December,%20the%2082,2%%20of%20the%20comp amountsenses%20corresponded%C3%B3%20to%20checks%20electr%C3%B3only,%20while%20that%20their%20participation%C3%B3nalcanz%C3%B3%20%2060%%20in%20quantities,%20with%203.2%20million%20of%20ECHEQ%20processed%20during%20months.
In terms of amounts, the ECHEQs concentrated $18.4 billion, out of a total of $22.4 billion compensated in pesos.The report also states that, since the implementation of ECHEQ in dollars, 19 electronic checks in foreign currency were cleared in December for a total of 0.8 million dollars.
The historical evolution presented by the Central Bank shows that the ECHEQ participation has been growing steadily since 2021, both in quantities and amounts, progressively displacing the traditional physical check.This structural change in the instrument did not prevent, however, rejections due to lack of funds from registering the strong increase observed in the last year.
The%20%20retail%20%20payments%20board%20of%20BCRA%20allows%20sizing%20the%20magnitude%20offen%C3%B3less.%20On%20December%20of%202025,%20the%20total%20of%20checks%20rejected%20%E2%80%94for%20all%20reasons%E2%80%94%20was%20of%20160.823%20operations,%20what%20implied%C3%B3%20a%20increase%20year-on-year%20of92.9%.%20Within%20Of%20that%20total,%20the%20rejections%20due to%20lack%20of%20funds%20explained%20the%20majority%20of%20growth.
In%20amounts,%20rejected%20checks%20in%20general%20reached%20%20$472,194%20millions, with%20an%20increase%20interannual%20nominal%20from%20159%.%20In%20the%20disaggregated,%20the%20chethatrejected%20specific%C3%ADphicly%20due to%20lack%20of%20funds%20concentrated%20m%C3%A1s%20of%20$347,000 million,%20what%20gives%20accounts%20of%20its%20relative%20weight%20within%20of%20total.
“The year-on-year increase in checks rejected without funds greatly exceeds the average of the rest of the instruments analyzed,” the report states in its summary section, where the annual variations in transfers, cards, direct debits and checks are compared.
The%20performance%C3%B1or%20of%20the%20checks%20contrast%20with%20the%20evolution%C3%B3n%20of%20other%20media%20of%20paymentrelevant%20by%20the%20Banco%20Central.%20In%20December,%20the%20immediate%20transfers%20in pesos%20(%E2%80%9Cpush%E2%80%9D)%20reach%20%20%20of%20operations,%20with%20an%20year-on-year%20growth%20of%2024.8%,%20while%20%20%20payments%20with%20transfer%20interoperables added%2096.4%20million%20of%20operations,%20with%20a%20increase%20of%2044%%20interannual.
In%20the%20case%20of%20the%20cards,%20the%20use%20show%C3%B3%20different%20behaviors.%20Theoperationsions%20with%20card%20of%20d%C3%A9bito%20registered%20ca%C3%ADdas%20interannual%20del%2012%%20charmamounts%20and%20of%2014,2%%20in%20real%20amounts,%20while%20that%20the%20cards%20of%20cr%C3%A9ditomesThey showed%20a%20 rise%20of%204.2%%20in%20quantities,%20but%20a%20fall%20of%203.5%%20in%20real amounts.
Direct%20d%C3%A9bits%20,%20for%20their%20part,%20total%2012.2%20million%20of%20operations%20in December,%20with%20a%20decrease%C3%B3n%20year-on-year%20of%201.3%%20in%20quantities,%20although%20with%20an%20increase%20of%2012,9%%20in%20real%20amounts.%20The%20effectiveness%20rate%20of%20this%20instrument was%20of%2043,2%20per%20percent.
In this context, the behavior of checks appears as one of the most striking dynamics within the payment system, especially due to the magnitude of the increase in rejections linked to lack of funds.
The%20report%20of%20BCRA%20also%C3%A9n%20shows%20the%20evolution%C3%B3n%20monthly%20of%20the%20relationship%C3%B3n%20between checks%20compensated%20and%20rejected.%20In%20December%20of%202025,%20the%20participation%C3%B3n%20of%20rejections%20for%20lack%20of%20funds%20on%20the%20total%20of%20checks%20cleared%20se%20ubic%C3%B3%20in2.2%%20in%20quantities,%20a%20level%20higher%20than%20observed%20a%20a%C3%B1o%20atr%C3%A1s.
In%20amounts,%20the%20participation%C3%B3n%20was%20of%201.6%,%20also%C3%A9n%20for%20above%20of%20the%20records%20december%20of%202024.%20The%20gr%C3%A1fics%20official%20exhibit%20a%20trend%20increasing%20inboth%20measurements%20a%20lo%20long%20of%202025,%20with%20un%20point%20of%20highest%20acceleration%C3%B3n%20in%20the%C3%BAlast%20quarter%20of%20to%C3%B1o.
“The share of checks rejected due to lack of funds over the total cleared showed a sustained increase during the year,” indicates the document, when analyzing the monthly evolution since 2021.
