VTB launches payment for goods, services via QR code in Argentina

MOSCOW. July 17 (Interfax) - VTB has launched payment for goods and services via QR code in Argentina in its mobile application, the bank said.

Funds are debited from the client's ruble account, and the bank automatically converts them into Argentine pesos.

"Argentina has become the first country in Latin America where we are launching QR code payments. This direction is one of the three most popular among Russian tourists on the continent," VTB's senior vice president and the head of its Retail Business Products Department, Alexei Okhorzin, was quoted as saying.

VTB's technology covers almost all QR code formats found in Argentina, he said.

It is planned that the service will be expanded to ten destinations, including other countries in the region, by the end of 2026.

VTB clients have made more than 524,000 QR code payments abroad since the beginning of the year, totaling more than 1.6 billion rubles, which is tens of times more than in the same period last year. Most often, clients pay via QR for groceries in supermarkets, electronics and clothing, the bank said.