CAF and ASBANC promote use of mobile wallet in small businesses in Peru

More than 300 store owners in Lima and Piura are the first beneficiaries of a project that has encouraged financial literacy and the use of mobile wallets (BIM) as digital payment method. With this tool, retailers make their businesses grow and ensure greater efficiency and security of transactions.

The project is promoted by CAF-development bank of Latin America- and the Center for Financial studies of the Association of Banks of Peru (ASBANC CEFI), and was implemented with 282 retailers or “BIMERS” in the District of Los Olivos (Lima), and 44 in Tambogrande (Piura). It included training, promotion and use of BIM for payment of invoices between stores and their distributors, as well as the training of sales executives, carriers, delivery staff, salespersons and distributors of Lindley, one of the largest marketing networks in the nation.

Currently, 75% of payments by retailers to consumer goods companies is made in cash, despite the use of banking agents. This generates uncertainty and cash management costs (3-5% of the total cost of companies), in more than 400,000 stores nationwide.

Martín Naranjo, President of ASBANC and CEFI, stressed that financial training should be used by financial institutions as an instrument to approach system outsiders, to communicate clearly and respond to their needs and expectations.

Naranjo also pointed out that the BIM model is viable, successful, profitable and still perfectible, and in the light of the positive results achieved in the project launched jointly with CAF, the efforts are expected to continue, in order to make the financial system and private banks affiliated to ASBANC become aware of their customers’ needs, prioritize them, and respond to their needs and concerns.

“Financial inclusion is not a problem of being ignorant, but being ignored. Therefore, we hope that this project will be replicated elsewhere in the country. Ideally, all transactions between retailers and their distributors should be made with BIM. One positive aspect is that we got off to a good start,” he said.

In addition, Eleonora Silva, CAF representative in Peru, said that this initiative will likely make financial systems improve allocation of funds to traditionally excluded sectors and to improve access to services with a positive impact on the well-being of the population.

“This initiative will contribute to the incorporation of people and businesses into the formal financial system in the medium term. The challenge is to continue adopting new technologies as a vital instrument for inclusion, because of their potential to speed up and reduce the cost of financial transactions," Silva added.

About the project

Adrián Revilla, general manager of ASBANC and executive director of ASBANC CEFI, emphasized that the project substantially reduced resistance to the use of mobile technology as payment method, and in only three months more than 2,000 transactions were made, for S/. 238,000, which were previously made with cash.

“Based on the project results, we believe we can escalate the model in the very near future to more stores nationwide in order to improve payment efficiency through BIM. Thus, storeowners will have access to modern, efficient and safe digital payment methods; and distributors will no longer need to carry cash with them,” Revilla explained.

Companies such as Pagos Digitales Peruanos (PDP), PG Inversiones y Consultores, and Arca Continental - Lindley (as strategic partner) and BBVA Banco Continental are also involved in promoting the use of BIM as a digital channel for payment to suppliers and other service providers.