Which other business group will pay Anses social plans with virtual wallet?

Two months ago, the ANSES opened the market to enable fintech to pay social allowances. But the news was sprinkled with controversy.

Juan Grabois, leader of the Confederation of Workers of the Popular Economy (CTEP), denounced differential treatment for Mercado Pago, the first of the firms included in the pilot test with some 300 beneficiaries. The next wallet that will participate in the test will be PlusPagos, with a strong presence in some provinces.

As it was known, if the test is successful and the initiative prospers, some 400,000 users will be able to freely choose between receiving their salaries by Mercado Pago or continue charging them (as they have up to now) via a bank account or through the Argentine Mail window.

This possibility is based on:

- Each user of the virtual wallet has a CVU (Uniform Virtual Key), equivalent to the CBU (Uniform Banking Code)

- As a result, these accounts are enabled to transfer and receive funds from and to others, whether virtual or banking

- Mercado Pago is not the only one that owns CVU, also digital banks, certain virtual wallets and even the Ualá financial application

The plan aims for the State to save the commissions that must be disbursed every month to the banks (and to a lesser extent to the Argentine Post Office) by having to pay them to:

- Almost 4 million beneficiaries of the Universal Allowance per child, for a total of $ 10,400 million

- Nearly 2.8 million people from the Hogar program (for the purchase of carafes), for an amount of $ 455 million

- About 600,000 students of the Progresar Scholarships, for $ 1,080 million

This means a total of $ 12,000 million. Banks charge $ 2.40 for each deposit, while Correo Argentino receives $ 100, although its universe is more limited since it only reaches those who do not have an entity near their home.

For these 7.4 million beneficiaries, ANSES pays for "traditional" channels at least $ 18 million in commissions every month, while fintech do not receive any sum for these transfers.

In relation to the latter, from the previsional entity they stress to iProUP that all have been invited to participate in the program. In this context, in the last hours the second company of the sector was known to look for to keep a piece of the cake that today the banks are distributed.

The new fintech
Plus Pagos will be the second fintech that will be able to pay social allowances, although the number of beneficiaries has not yet been disclosed. This is the electronic payment operator of the Petersen Group, belonging to the Eskenazi family, which has just signed an agreement with ANSES to be part of the initiative.

"From now on, Plus Pagos will have the paying agent code," iProUP sources tell the agency, which means that if a beneficiary requests to receive their money through that channel, they can indicate in the system the Plus Payment code.

From the entity they clarify that if the company wants to capitalize the movements of the beneficiaries, it has to do it with their own means and effort, since for the users it is optional. "ANSES does not grant or remove beneficiaries, except that there is a fragrant offense," he emphasizes before the iProUP consultation.

The collection network of Plus Pagos has a strong presence in some provinces, such as Santa Fe, Entre Rios, Corrientes, Santa Cruz and San Juan, where it competes against PagoFácil and Rapipago, leaders in the sector.

In this way, the beneficiaries could count on the electronic wallet of Plus Payments for:

- Perform online operations

- Extract money from ATMs

- Withdraw cash from the windows that the firm has in kiosks, booths and other shops

- Use your balance for purchases with QR in local adhered

The company is part of ASJ Servicios, a digital payment solutions company of the Petersen Group, which also manages the San Juan, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos regional banks.

The owners
Grupo Petersen was born in 1920 as a construction company. Five years later Enrique Ezkenazi was born, who in 1981 joined the holding company (after having worked at Bunge y Born) and later acquired the total stock package.

In the '90s, the Petersen Group launched a strong process of diversification to its current composition in the areas of construction, finance, agricultural business, insurance and urban services.

But the last name of this family sounded stronger during the presidency of Cristina Kirchner. Especially when the expropriation of YPF took place that until then was controlled by the Spanish company Repsol.

The Eskenazi family joined the then Repsol-YPF in 2018 thanks to the work of Jorge "Corcho" Rodríguez, sent by Néstor Kirchner to convince Antonio Brufau, president of the Spanish oil company.

The Iberian manager received from Rodriguez an irresistible offer: prices to guarantee profits and, above all, the possibility of repatriating 90% of the profits, something that had been prohibited to other multinationals. In return, Brufau had to deliver part of the actions and management.

The former president signed the landing of an operation she called "Argentinizar YPF". The Eskenazi bought 15% for u $ s2.235 million. Of that total, half was lent by Repsol itself and would be returned based on YPF's profits. The rest was contributed by Credit Suisse, Itaú, Paribás and the Mexican Inbursa.

There was also an option to increase its participation to 25%, so that the total operation reached US $ 4,000 million. But Argentina became an importer of fuels and the plans collapsed.

In effect, Cristina Kirchner began with the process of re-nationalization of YPF and they ran out of funds after the expropriation, since the money to pay their obligations would come from the oil company.

One of the firms of Carlos Slim, owner of Claro, was acquiring several performance guarantees to the entities that he had loaned and he made 8% of the shares of YPF, which he later resold.

Grupo Burford acquired the Litigation Rights of the Petersen Group for US $ 15 million. The argument is that, as he did not receive compensation for his actions, he was a victim of state expropriation.

Although the then minister of Economy, Axel Kicillof, assured that the expropriation would cost nothing to Argentina, the State ended up paying some US $ 5,000 million to Repsol.

At this time, the Argentine government is demanding in New York before Judge Loretta Prezska that the trial be held in Argentina instead of the US city.

The magistrate will take a couple of months for the decision, despite Burford's request that the request be rejected. In case of losing, the Argentine State should pay about US $ 3,000 million.

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