Argentina's BCRA orders fraud scores for transfers

Argentina’s Central Bank, the Banco Central de la República Argentina, has established a mandatory fraud-risk scoring system for people who make electronic transfers through Communication A 8473. The measure applies to banks and payment service providers that offer payment accounts, and is designed to strengthen controls over electronic transfers.

What does the new communication require?

Communication A 8473 requires payment scheme administrators to build a fraud-risk score tied to each user’s CUIL or CUIT. To do that, they will have to cross-check publicly available data, information from the BCRA’s Fraud Prevention Center, and their own transaction records, according to Argentine media coverage.

The rule was issued on Sept. 3, 2026 and published in the Official Gazette on Sept. 10, 2026. In practice, the framework is now formally part of electronic payment operations under BCRA oversight.

How will implementation work?

Payment scheme administrators will have 120 days to develop and put the required infrastructure into operation, with an initial operational milestone expected in January 2027, according to Mendoza Post. Once the system is live, banks and PSPCPs will have 60 days to include it in customer onboarding and roster reviews, and 90 days to integrate it into daily transaction monitoring.

iProUP adds that the BCRA will provide the necessary information to build the score every month at no cost, both in monthly CUIL and CUIT files and through an online query API. That design imposes specific technical integration requirements on the institutions covered by the rule.

What is the operational scope of the score?

According to iProUP, Communication A 8473 requires the score in three specific processes: onboarding new customers and opening accounts, transaction monitoring across all transfer types, for both senders and recipients, and periodic review of account holder rosters to recategorize risk levels.

Urgente24 and iProUP also note that banks and PSPCPs will not be allowed to rely exclusively on the score. A high-risk level does not automatically mean account blocks or rejected transfers, which limits the tool’s operational reach.

How does it fit into BCRA regulation?

Abogados.com.ar linked Communication A 8473 to A 8471 and said the new score complements an existing fraud management and prevention regime for financial institutions, payment scheme administrators, and PSPCPs. KPMG Argentina, meanwhile, said the BCRA approved anti-fraud measures for those entities, with different implementation timelines depending on the obligation involved.

At the same time, the BCRA still maintains CIMPRA Bulletins as recommendation documents for payment methods and fraud prevention. The official portal showed 2026 bulletins covering operational and security topics, such as the update to the Viaje con QR payment flow in CIMPRA Bulletin 546 on Sept. 17, 2026, confirming that the channel remains active for process and control adjustments beyond Communications A.