The use of cash continues to decline in Paraguay, while digital payments are gaining more and more ground, according to data from the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) for May 2026.
Withdrawals from ATMs fell by 19.5% compared to the same month the previous year, reflecting a significant shift in consumer behavior.
In contrast, purchases made with credit cards saw a 21% increase in value, and those made with debit cards grew by 8.4%. E-commerce showed even more significant growth, with a 46% increase in online debit purchases and a 51% increase with credit cards.
The Instant Payment System (SPI), which allows for immediate transfers between different financial institutions, reached an average of 1.87 million transactions per day. The vast majority of these transactions are low-value, indicating that the system is already part of the population's financial routine.
Another indicator of digitalization is the popularity of the Alias system, which identifies bank accounts using a phone number, identity document, or email, without needing the full account number. By May, 2.87 million aliases had been registered, and transfers using this mechanism totaled 13.8 million operations in the month. Almost a quarter (24.6%) of all SPI transactions are now conducted using Alias.
The expansion of the electronic payments infrastructure, the growth of QR code payments, and the consolidation of instant transfers are gradually reducing the country's reliance on physical cash.