BNKA: The Fintech Connecting the Peruvian Diaspora to Their Money - with no borders

Migrating does not end when you cross a border. It continues every time you have to send money home, pay for a service in Peru, or sort out a procedure ten thousand kilometers away and six hours out of sync.

For the Peruvian diaspora the problem is not a lack of options. It is that almost none of them are designed for someone who earns in one currency and has obligations in another.

A soles balance you open from abroad

Getting access to a soles account from outside the country used to require being physically in Peru. That requirement no longer applies.

Registration can be completed with a phone number from Spain, Italy, Argentina, Germany, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile or Portugal, among others, with no need for a Peruvian number. What you do need is a valid document: DNI, foreigner card, or temporary residence permit. The detail of what the identity verification asks for is in the FAQ.

Several currencies in one app

A migrant's life does not run in a single currency, which is why the balance can be held in euros, soles, Argentine pesos and Colombian pesos, switching between them with the rate visible before you confirm.

Each pair has its own page with the detail. The one most used by the Peruvian diaspora is euro and Peruvian sol. What exactly the margin applied to an exchange is is defined in the glossary.

Interoperable QR payments in Peru

Interoperable QR is the standard shared by institutions in the Peruvian payment system. With it you can pay at merchants that accept QR, from a large chain to a corner shop, using your soles balance directly.

Interoperability also works the other way: it lets you send and receive money from other local wallets and institutions. For someone going back for a holiday or for work, that means getting around with one app and without changing cash.

Sending money to Peru without it getting held

This is where most of the avoidable problems sit, and almost all of them come down to one detail entered wrong.

What happens on the other side when a control fires is in why an account goes under review, and the timings of each rail in SEPA, SWIFT and how long a transfer really takes. The detail of the local leg is on the Peru corridor page.

Getting paid in euros while you live abroad

The other half of the equation is the income. With a European IBAN in your name you can receive a salary or a client payment without going through somebody else's account.

Two conditions that genuinely matter: the account must be in your name, and that name must be written in full and exactly. The whole procedure is in getting paid in euros without a European bank account, and if you do not have an NIE yet, in opening a European IBAN account without an NIE.

What BNKA is and what it is not

BNKA is a technology platform. Financial services are provided by regulated partner entities, in Europe and in each local corridor. There is no credit and no investment product, because those require separate licenses.

What there is instead is a product layer that joins up getting paid in euros, exchanging currency and sending money home, with the prevention controls the rules require. Which ones they are and why they sometimes get in the way is in how we work with AI.

Informational content. This does not constitute financial, legal, tax or investment advice.