Digital payments: source of inclusion or inequality? A comparative study of the global south

This paper examines the impact of substituting cash for digital payment alternatives on the dynamics of social inequality. It compares one case where the private sector is leading the transition to a cashless economy - Argentina - with another case where the state actively provided a financial infrastructure facilitating immediate and free cashless payments - Brazil. The paper studies the effects produced in each of these economies by two central mechanisms by which digital payments contribute to aggravating the dynamics of inequality: the interconnectedness of credit and payment - which intensifies the expansion of consumer credit -and the mining and exploitation of payment data - which generates new forms of discrimination and exclusion. Drawing on a mixed design, combining qualitative analysis of documents and interviews with statistical analysis, the project aims to provide insights into how state-driven payment systems can foster more inclusive financial ecosystems, minimizing over-indebtedness and consumer vulnerability.