Does deleting the app erase your debt? The truth about digital loans

Deleting a lending app from a mobile phone does not make the debt disappear. In Argentina, accepting a loan through a digital platform creates a formal contract between the lender and the borrower.

The agreement applies even without a handwritten signature, notary or face-to-face meeting. The digital acceptance establishes the same type of rights and obligations as other financial agreements, under the oversight of a regulatory body.

Digital wallets that provide loans through their platforms are regulated by Argentina’s Central Bank, the BCRA. They must report each loan to the Financial System Debtors’ Central. If a borrower cannot meet the monthly payments, the resulting delinquency can appear in that registry and create later difficulties.

The Debtors’ Central consolidates information linked to a taxpayer identification number. Its records cover financing from financial institutions, financial trusts, nonfinancial credit-card or purchase-card issuers, other nonfinancial credit providers, mutual guarantee companies, public guarantee funds and providers of peer-to-peer credit services through platforms.

Borrowers can check their status on the BCRA website by entering their CUIT, CUIL or CDI number. The article says the BCRA considers a borrower delinquent after more than 90 days of arrears.