Peru, a beautiful country with over 30 million people, has decided to boost the efficiency of bank services available within, due to the fact that in every five Peruvians, only one has a bank account. However the country has over 32 million cell phone users. This is why major Peruvian banks in their wisdom have come together to get cash in on this medium. One of the country’s leading financial institutions, Peru Digital Payments, launched a mobile payment program called Bim on Dec. 15. This program is meant to help unify all their online customer interfaces on a single system.
Carolina Trivelli, who had previously run the government’s development ministry and oversees Bim, commented, “We want this program to reach the people who don’t have bank accounts.”He furthercommented, “That’s the woman who lives in the countryside and has a nine key cell phone, a 2G connection, and a prepaid phone plan.”
Peru’s new software is the first of its kind. Although there are 255 mobile money programs in over 89 countries around the world, no one has managed to include all the banks available in a country, and most of them allow transactions between customers using the same phone company. The three major Peruvian carriers will allow users access to the program by February.
The software works just fine with low tech cell phones, since only about a quarter of users in Peru own a smartphone. The software also features an easy menu with numbered selections, such as sending money to someone for a small fee or purchasing voice minutes. In order to improve the efficiency with basic phones, Bim sends data over voice channels, like text messages.
According to Trivelli, as soon as users start making use of Bim, their respective banks hosting the accounts will have the power to make credit scores for them, start sending loans, and provide other products. The program was made possible thanks to the split of $10 million made across the country’s 34 financial institutions and has a goal of attracting fivemillion users within a space of five years.
Jeffery Bower, a United Nations digital payment specialist, feels that Bim has the potential to cut down loose change and robbery threats and even counterfeit money issues thanks to the new method implemented, but he feels that the service charge might be a lot for some poor citizens. The software’s interface and low tech technique can also end up being quite annoying to the few smartphone users. Trivelli, however, said she is negotiating with carriers to reduce the service cost, and also expects to develop a more sophisticated app for smartphones. The software has a long way to go; it will require a lot of publicity, partners, massive marketing, and the rest of them.
Bim is a result of a job well done, that may prove to be potentially beneficial to Peru. Bower also commented on this, saying, “No other country in the world has all of those pieces in place, with right kinds of partnership and the right kind of momentum, to push things forward, hopefully Bim will be more successful at reaching all Peruvians across the country, making a significant impact on increasing financial inclusion nationwide.”
Be the first to comment on "Peru to open a nationwide mobile wallet"