The Central Bank of Paraguay reported that it has received Central Banking’s Payments and Market Infrastructure Development 2025 award, recognizing its role in modernizing Paraguay’s electronic payments infrastructure. The award centers on the implementation of the Instant Payment System, or SPI, within the Paraguay Payment System, or SIPAP, which provides 24/7 real-time transfers at no cost and has been used to reduce reliance on cash since its launch in May 2022. The central bank highlighted several adoption metrics tied to the SPI. Digital payment volumes are now nearly double ATM cash withdrawals, the system processed more than 178 million transactions in 2024, up 135% from the previous year, and more than 95% of SIPAP transactions now run through the SPI. It also said 71% of low-value payments are made through the 24/7 system and that more than 2.6 million accounts operate on it. Related measures included regulating SPI fees to keep transfers free and complementary services low cost, enabling account aliases such as mobile numbers, identity numbers and email addresses for simpler transfers, creating a sponsor model to expand participation to cooperatives and electronic payment institutions, and issuing rules to standardize QR code generation to support interoperability. The central bank also reiterated that it is working on a draft law for a National Payments System. According to the release, the proposal would create a modern regulatory framework for payment services and systems and give the Central Bank of Paraguay powers to regulate interoperability and the incorporation of fintech firms into SIPAP. The executive branch is expected to submit the bill to Congress for consideration.

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