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Payments/BO

Bolivia, Plurinational State of

ISO BO · 3 schemes

Summary

  • $imple first LatAm interbank QR (2019)
  • 4,733% growth 6M to 290M (2021-2024)
  • 11 banks participating
  • Banco Unión state bank QR
  • B$5,000 commission-free limit

Banking landscape

Central Bank

  • Name: Banco Central de Bolivia (BCB)
  • Website: https://www.bcb.gob.bo/
  • Role: Monetary policy, payment oversight

Major Banks (2024)

Rank Bank Name Type Digital Platform
1 Banco Unión State UNImóvil Plus
2 Banco Mercantil Private BMC App
3 BancoSol Microfinance BancoSol Móvil
4 Banco Nacional Private BNB App
5 Banco FIE Microfinance FIE Mobile

Market Structure

  • ASOBAN: Private banks association
  • $imple: Interbank platform
  • State banks: Large presence
  • Microfinance: Strong sector

Payment infrastructure

National Payment Systems

System Operator Type Status
$imple ASOBAN Interbank QR Active
LIP BCB Large value Active
ACH Banks Clearing Active
VPay Private Real-time QR Active

$imple Platform

  • First Latin American interbank QR
  • Launched 2019 by ASOBAN
  • 11 banks participating
  • QR code encrypted security
  • No bank info sharing needed

Growth Statistics

  • 6M transactions (2021)
  • 290M transactions (Oct 2024)
  • 4,733% growth in 3 years
  • Rapid adoption curve

QR code standards

$imple QR

Attribute Value
Operator ASOBAN
Launch 2019
Banks 11 participating
Limit B$5,000 per txn

$imple Features

  • Encrypted QR codes
  • Fraud prevention
  • No bank account exposure
  • Commission-free under B$5,000
  • Mobile app based

Banco Unión QR

Attribute Value
App UNImóvil Plus
Feature SEGIP payments
Pioneer First debit online (2016)
Integration $imple compatible

Mobile payment apps

App Provider QR Features
$imple ASOBAN Yes Interbank
UNImóvil Plus Banco Unión Yes Full banking
VPay Private Yes Real-time
Soli Fintech Yes Wallet

Mobile Wallet Options

  • WalletOn Bolivia
  • Viva App
  • Soli
  • Growing sector

Identity Payment

  • SEGIP document renewal
  • QR code immediate payment
  • Queue avoidance
  • Government integration

Schemes

Scheme Type Symbology Adoption Technical standard
$imple Interbank QR ASOBAN 290M txns imple
VPay Real-time QR Private Growing
Bank QR Individual Banks Active

Sources

Full country report

BO-bolivia.md

Schemes

Standards

source · docs/payments/BO/index.md