Transfers between Yape and Plin will have no cost

In October of last year, the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP) published the interoperability regulation that requires digital wallets to operate with each other for the benefit of users. In a first stage, Yape and Plin have until March 31 to adapt their processes; for now, both companies confirmed to La República that they will not charge any commission for money transfer.

“Yape was born with the aim of being interoperable and free, so our yaperos must have the peace of mind that they will not be charged a single sol for transfers to other wallets. Proof of this is that we currently interoperate with nine other entities (…)”, said Miguel Ibáñez, Yape product owner and leader of the interoperability process.

For his part, Mauricio Sánchez, head of Plin, commented that the digital wallets are working together and at a good pace to carry out this project within the period granted by the authority.

“Due to the importance of the project, different milestones have been defined that seek to ensure proper functioning and that this is a successful project to continue connecting Peruvians financially, and as a result, promote financial inclusion, the digitization of means of payment and the decrease in the use of cash”, said Sánchez.

The transfers between the two will be made using the mobile number of the users, the one already added as a contact or a mobile number that is entered at that time. But in the second phase, which has a deadline of June 30, operations can also be done by reading the QR code.

In the case of Yape, there are more than 12 million users who will benefit from this functionality, of which 2 million are micro-businesses that have created an account to receive payments from their customers. “The microbusinesses that use Yape represent more than 50% of the 150 million transactions that are carried out monthly on average,” Ibáñez commented.

It should be noted that of the total, 3 million entered the financial system for the first time.

In the case of PlinToday it has more than 10 million users who are allowed to transfer up to S/1,500 per day and a maximum of S/500 per operation, dynamic that will remain in interoperability.

Will there be sanctions?

Companies can be penalized by the BCRP with a fine of S/24,750 (5 UIT) per week until they comply with their obligations, such as starting interoperability within the indicated period, complying with user experience guidelines, among others.

The data

Competence. The digital wallet of the municipal savings banks will be available from June and will provide microcredits. The maximum amount will be S/200 with an annual rate of 50%, 40% less than Yape, according to Fepcmac.