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Adoptionand welfareeffectsofpaymentinnovations: the case ofdigital wallets in Peru by Arturo Andia, Jose Aurazo and Marcelo Paliza Monetary and Economic Department February 2026 JEL classification: G23, G28, L51, L96, O16, R11 Keywords:consumer welfare,demand estimation,digital payments, digital wallets, innovation, Peru BISWorking Papers are written by members of the Monetary and EconomicDepartment of the Bank for International Settlements, and from time to time by othereconomists, and are published by the Bank. The papers are on subjects of topicalinterest and are technical in character. The views expressed in this publication arethose of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the BIS or its membercentral banks. This publication is available on the BIS website (www.bis.org). Adoption and welfare effects of payment innovations: The case ofdigital wallets in Peru∗ Arturo Andia†Jose Aurazo‡Marcelo Paliza§ This version: January 2026First draft: August 2025 Abstract Digital wallets like Yape and Plin have gained widespread popularity in Peru, allowing users tomake instant payments through quick response (QR) codes or mobile phone numbers. This paperexamines the drivers of their adoption and their impact on everyday life. Using market share data forsix digital payment instruments and cash from January 2019 to April 2024, we estimate the demandfor payment instruments and find that features such as lower fees, 24/7 immediate payments, QRcode payments, and interoperability with point-of-sale (POS) terminals are key to their success. Ourestimates suggest that a PEN 0.01 (USD 0.003) increase in payer fees would reduce the market shareof the digital wallets by 0.31 percentage points (pp), while debit cards and cash would gain usage.Simulations further indicate that removing 24/7 immediate transfers would reduce digital walletusage by 15.75 pp, discontinuing POS payments by 26.01 pp, and eliminating QR code functionalityby 4.45 pp. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the adoption of digital wallets has contributed toa sustained increase in consumer welfare per transaction among banked individuals over time. Keywords: Consumer welfare; Demand estimation; Digital payments; Digital wallets; Innovation;Peru JEL Classification: G23; G28; L51; L96; O16; R11. 1Introduction Digital payments are instrumental in promoting financial inclusion. Financial inclusion, definedas the accessibility and affordability of financial services provided by formal institutions, is knownto stimulate economic growth (Fabregas and Yokossi, 2022; Qiu, 2022; Aguilar et al., 2024), curbpoverty (Aker et al., 2016), and reduce income inequality by gender (Suri and Jack, 2016) andeducation level (Grohmann and Menkhff, 2018). Digital payments, in particular fast payments, havethe potential to expand access to the financial system beyond payments, in the form of access tosavings and credit (Aurazo and Franco, 2024; Aurazo et al., 2025). In Latin America, most countries are moving towards a wider use of digital payments, with Braziland Chile being notable examples. In 2022, Brazilians made an average of 396 retail payments percapita,1up from 166 in 2018. Chileans made 279 payments per capita in 2022, up from 117 in 2018.Other countries are experiencing rapid growth from a low base. In 2018, Peru had one of the lowestuse of retail payments in the region, with 25 payments per capita, but increased to 99 paymentsin 2022. This makes it the country with the largest increase in Latin America (Banco Central deReserva del Perú, 2024). This rapid expansion in Peru’s digital payments is partly due to the success of two domestic digitalwallets, Yape and Plin. Since Yape’s launch in February 2017 and Plin’s in May 2020, both haveexhibited remarkable adoption rates.By December 2023, these two wallets accounted for over50% of total retail cashless transactions in Peru, surpassing card payments (23%) as the primarycashless payment method.2Compared to 2019, digital wallets and ACH immediate transfers arethe only payment instruments that increased their market shares, while credit and debit cards,intra-bank transfers, and ACH non-immediate transfers lost relevance. These digital wallets are usedfor several daily transactions, including payments to micro and small merchants whose average valueper transaction is very small, around PEN 50 (USD 13). In contrast, the average value of an ACHimmediate transfer is PEN 856 (USD 220), while that of a credit card is PEN 210 (USD 55).3 Barrantes and Alzamora (2023) and Aurazo and Gasmi (2024) discuss a couple of success factors ofYape. These include the successful communication strategy with young people, the application’sconvenience and ease of use and the large network of micro and small businesses. We complementthis work and suggest a combination of enablers, catalysts and key design features.First, theenablers such as financial accounts penetration, mobile phone and internet coverage were im