In light of recent transportation cost increases and challenges in registering and loading the SUBE card, there’s a growing demand from the financial sector for the system to be “opened”. The proposal is to allow transportation fees to be funded via various payment methods.
There’s been an uptick in user complaints about the difficulties in registering cards by the March 31 deadline. This is crucial in order to retain the current rate and avoid the new rates that come into effect in April. Nación Servicios, the controller of SUBE, has recently decided to keep the card’s negative balance at -$ 480 despite the rate increases for buses and trains in metropolitan areas.
The Government clarified on Friday that after dealing with technical issues to increase the maximum load amount to $9,900, efforts are underway to expand the negative balance.
This situation has rekindled the financial sector’s demand to “open the SUBE”, a system currently controlled by Nación Servicios. Banks had previously asked the government to increase access points to this system, enabling transportation costs to be covered via any digital wallet or banking app.
The long-term goal is to allow bus, subway, or train travel to be paid for using all available contactless payment methods as well as any new payment options that might emerge. This would include the ability to pay for public transportation with credit, debit or prepaid cards; using NFC (near-field communication) technology, an option already available for business transactions, according to a technical note from ADEBA, the association of national capital banks.
The demand has gained further momentum with Pierpaolo Barbieri, founder of fintech Ualá and a member of ADEBA, leading the charge on social media.
Open SUBE!
Less state monopoly with SA tongue hidden in a public bank.
More competition. More transparency. Less queues.
Just like in Rio. New York. Rome. London. Hong Kong. Mexico. Milan. And so many other cities. pic.twitter.com/UjgcNDiYRT— Pierpaolo Barbieri (@pbarbieri) February 14, 2024
Barbieri advocates for a more open SUBE system with less state monopoly, more competition, transparency, and fewer queues. He cites similar practices in Rio, New York, Rome, London, Hong Kong, Mexico, Milan, and other cities.
The financial sector reports that discussions with the Government to open the system are advanced and that technically, it wouldn’t be difficult to implement. However, political impediments seem to be the main roadblocks at this point.
The management of SUBE, previously under the Ministry of Transportation, now lacks a designated director due to the demotion of the ministry to a secretariat. No organizational chart is currently in place, according to sources. Meanwhile, Franco Mogetta, the current Secretary of Transportation, is under scrutiny following a dispute between Javier Milei and the governors over the Omnibus Law failure.
As per the Central Bank’s latest data in its Retail Payments Report, the balances in the SUBE in December last year totaled $19.9 billion.
