Mercado Libre’s Founder Faces a Criminal Usury Complaint Over Loans Costing Up to 1,375% a Year
Argentina · Fintech
Key Facts
- —What happened Marcos Galperin faces a criminal usury complaint in Buenos Aires over loans at up to 1,375.94% yearly.
- —How big a jump Annual credit cost ranges 76.36% to 1,375.94%, with nominal interest up to 249% (US$…).
- —The real story Argentine rates vs Brazil’s 63% yearly gap is ‘absolute disproportion’ under usury law.
- —The catch It is a complaint, not a charge; nothing is proven, and Argentina has no legal cap on personal-loan rates.
- —Who it touches Mercado Pago’s app reaches millions in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, offering instant loans to non-traditional borrowers.
- —What comes next A prosecutor must decide whether to open an investigation, and Mercado Pago has yet to answer the complaint directly.
The headline figure is the total cost of credit, not the interest rate. It sits on the company’s own public rate sheet.
A criminal complaint filed in Buenos Aires accuses Marcos Galperin, Mercado Libre’s founder and chief executive, of usury over the cost of consumer loans sold through the company’s Mercado Pago wallet. It is a complaint, not a charge, and nothing has been proven. The Mercado Pago loan rates it cites are the ones the company publishes itself.
Why the two numbers are so far apart
Nothing here has been tested in court. A complaint is an allegation, and a prosecutor still has to decide whether to open an investigation.
The arithmetic is not in dispute, though. Both sides are reading the same published table.
The nominal annual rate, known in Argentina as the TNA, is the headline interest. It is the number a lender puts in big type.
The total financial cost, or CFT, is what you really pay. It adds fees, taxes and the effect of paying in monthly instalments, and Argentine law makes lenders publish both.
Mercado Pago’s table gives a TNA of 48% at the bottom and 249% at the top. Compounded, those become 60.12% and 863.48% a year.
Add everything else and the total cost runs from 76.36% to 1,375.94% a year. At the top the two numbers are more than five times apart, and at the bottom about 1.6 times.
The company also publishes separate credit-card figures: 84.11% nominal and 165.76% total cost on the compensatory rate.
What the complaint argues, and what the company says back
Article 175 bis makes it a crime to exploit someone’s need, haste or inexperience. The charge applies when the interest they promise is clearly out of proportion to what they receive.
So the test is fairness and vulnerability, not a broken rate limit. Argentina puts no ceiling on personal-loan rates.
The one cap that exists covers credit cards issued by companies that are not banks. The central bank sets that figure each month.
Solano’s case rests on a comparison. He says the same company’s Brazilian credit costs about 63% a year, which would make the Argentine product roughly twenty-one times more expensive.
He calls the gap between the two ‘absolute disproportion’. Mercado Pago’s own Brazilian materials put the market average for unsecured personal loans at 8.4% to 8.6% a month.
He also compares what the wallet charges with what it pays. Money left in Mercado Pago earns a variable return through a money-market fund, around 17.5% to 18.6% a year in mid-August.
Mercado Pago has not answered the complaint directly, but it has defended its pricing. It told Infobae and La Nación on 14 August that each rate is set by the borrower’s own risk profile, and improves as they build a history and demonstrate good repayment behaviour.
The company said its terms are ‘very competitive’ with traditional banks for low-risk borrowers, and that its late-payment rate matches the country’s main private banks. Asked about a protest outside its headquarters on 18 August, it declined to comment.
Live Company IntelligenceMercadoLibre Inc. — the full investor dossier
Wall Street view
Valuation & profitability
Price & risk
$1,495.0052-wk high
$2,548.50
Revenue trend · 6y
Ownership
Dividend
Why this matters if you live in the region
Mercado Libre is the biggest online shopping company in Latin America, and Mercado Pago is the everyday payment app for millions in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
A loan offered inside an app you already use, at the moment you pay, reaches people who would never walk into a lender’s office.
Argentine inflation makes every rate in the country look enormous, and that is the obvious defence. It explains why rates are high everywhere.
The complaint is built on the gap instead. It compares what the app pays savers with what it charges its most expensive borrowers.
There is one practical lesson here for anyone borrowing in Argentina. Look past the TNA.
The CFT is what you will actually pay, and lenders must show it. In this market the two can be more than five times apart.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is accused, and of what?
Marcos Galperin, Mercado Libre’s founder and chief executive, is named personally in a criminal complaint alleging usury under Article 175 bis of Argentina’s criminal code. It is a complaint, not a charge or a conviction, and nothing has been proven.
Who filed it and where?
Gabriel Solano, president of the Partido Obrero and a former Buenos Aires city legislator, announced the filing on 11 August 2026. Press reports place it with Criminal and Correctional Court No. 53 under judge Francisco Carlos Aponte, with Prosecutor’s Office No. 60 investigating.
Is the rate really 1,375%?
That is the top of the published total annual financial cost, or CFT, which includes fees and charges as well as interest. The nominal annual interest rate runs from 48% to 249%.
What is the difference between TNA and CFT?
The TNA is the headline interest rate. The CFT is what you actually pay once fees, taxes and compounding are added. Argentine lenders must publish both, and the CFT is the one to compare.
How has the company responded?
Mercado Pago has not addressed the complaint directly but has defended its pricing, saying the rate reflects individual risk and improves with repayment history, that it is competitive with banks for low-risk users, and that its arrears ratio matches major private banks.
Is there a legal cap on lending rates in Argentina?
Not on personal loans. The only relevant ceiling applies to credit cards issued by non-bank entities, which the central bank sets monthly under the credit-card law.
Connected Coverage
Milei Uses San Martin Day to Warn on Economy and Courts PRO
IMF Chief Backs Milei as Argentina’s Economy Rebounds
Argentina’s Stunning Turnaround: How Milei Tamed 211% Inflation
Milei’s High-Stakes Plan: IMF Funds to Stabilize Argentina’s Economy Without Adding Debt
Sources: Mercado Pago — published rates; Partido Obrero — Solano files a criminal complaint against G; Infobae — why the wallet charges up to 1,375%; La Nación — the cost of borrowing in a digital wallet; Argentine Penal Code, Article 175 bis
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times