Payment trucks brought money to homes of elderly people living alone
Over 509,607 beneficiaries from groups 1-2 have already received payments; groups 3-4 continue through March with tailored payment methods for remote and unbanked populations. Payment methods vary by group: direct deposits, digital wallets (Yape, Tunki, BIM), mobile banking, and payment trucks for elderly and remote communities to prevent COVID-19 crowding.
- 4.7 million vulnerable households targeted across 10 Peruvian regions
- 509,607 beneficiaries from groups 1-2 received payments by late February
- Four staggered payment groups from February 17 through March 29
- Payment methods included bank deposits, digital wallets (Yape, Tunki, BIM), mobile banking, and payment trucks
Peru's Midis ministry distributes 600-sole emergency subsidies to 4.7 million vulnerable households across 10 regions in four staggered payment phases, with multiple collection methods including bank deposits, digital wallets, and mobile payment options.
In early 2021, as Peru grappled with a second wave of COVID-19, the government began rolling out an emergency subsidy of 600 soles to its most vulnerable households. The Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion, known as Midis, had identified 4.7 million eligible households across ten regions—Lima Metropolitan, Lima provinces, Callao, Ancash, Pasco, Huánuco, Junín, Huancavelica, Ica, and Apurímac—all designated as areas under extreme quarantine restrictions. By late February, more than 509,000 beneficiaries from the first two payment groups had already received their money.
The challenge was not simply handing out cash. Peru's financial infrastructure is fragmented. Some households had bank accounts and digital wallets. Others lived in remote communities where the nearest bank branch was hours away. Still others had no formal banking relationship at all. To prevent the crowding that would inevitably spread disease, Midis designed a staggered payment schedule divided into four groups, each with its own collection methods tailored to the beneficiary's circumstances.
Group 1, which began receiving payments on February 17, consisted of households already enrolled in three existing social programs: Juntos, Pensión 65, and Contigo. These beneficiaries could collect their money through direct deposit to existing accounts, or, if they lacked a bank card, by requesting cash at a bank branch. For the most isolated beneficiaries—people over 80 living alone in remote areas—payment trucks began arriving at their homes starting February 22, eliminating the need to travel.
Group 2 started on February 26 and included households with existing bank accounts or digital wallet access. The payment schedule for this group was staggered by the last digit of each person's national ID number, spreading collections across nearly two months to avoid overwhelming bank tellers and ATMs. Someone whose ID ended in zero could collect on February 26 or 27; someone ending in nine had to wait until March 19 or 20. For those without existing digital wallets, Midis allowed new enrollments in services like Yape, Tunki, and BIM starting March 1. The government also offered mobile banking through the state-owned Banco de la Nación, with enrollment windows based on ID numbers and payment dates ranging from mid-March onward.
Group 3, beginning March 8, targeted households in communities with no financial institutions at all. Payment trucks would visit designated focal points and the homes of elderly beneficiaries living alone. Group 4, the final cohort starting March 29, consisted of households without bank accounts or registered phone numbers. For them, the Banco de la Nación extended hours at 81 strategically located branches, opening at 6 a.m. and closing at 5 p.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
Eligibility itself was carefully defined. The subsidy went to families living in poverty or extreme poverty according to the national household targeting system, to existing social program participants, and to households where no member earned more than 3,000 soles monthly or held formal employment. The government excluded anyone convicted of violating emergency health measures. To prevent fraud—a real concern as scammers began impersonating officials—Midis emphasized that the only official channels were the website bono600.gob.pe and a free phone line, 101. No text messages, no unauthorized apps, no other sources.
Beneficiaries could verify their status and payment method online, and if circumstances changed—if the designated recipient became unable to collect—they could request that another household member be designated instead through a separate platform. A third system allowed people to report problems with their payments. The government had built redundancy into the system, recognizing that in a country as geographically and economically diverse as Peru, no single payment method would work for everyone. The real test would be whether the machinery could actually reach all 4.7 million households before the money ran out or the crisis deepened.
Citas Notables
The government emphasized that the only official channels were the website bono600.gob.pe and a free phone line, 101, warning beneficiaries that no text messages or unauthorized apps were legitimate.— Midis (Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion)
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why split the payments into four groups instead of just distributing everything at once?
Because Peru's banking system doesn't reach everywhere equally. Some people have ATM cards; others live where the nearest bank is a day's journey. Spreading it out also meant fewer people crowding into branches at the same time, which mattered when COVID was still surging.
So the payment trucks—those were for people in truly remote areas?
Yes, and specifically for elderly people living alone. If you're over 80 and isolated, you can't easily travel to collect cash. The trucks brought the money to them.
What about someone who had no bank account and no phone registered with the government?
They had to wait until March 29 and collect in person at a bank branch. But the government extended hours at 81 branches to make it less of a burden. It was the last resort, really.
The staggered schedule by ID number—that seems like it could be confusing.
It was designed to prevent chaos. If 4.7 million people all tried to withdraw money on the same day, the system would collapse. By spreading collections across weeks, based on the last digit of your ID, they managed the flow.
And the fraud warnings—were scammers actually targeting this program?
They were. People were getting fake text messages claiming to be from the government, asking for personal information or directing them to fake websites. The government had to keep repeating: only bono600.gob.pe and the phone line 101 are real. Everything else is a scam.
Did the government have any way to know if someone was actually poor enough to deserve the money?
They used existing data—who was already in the poverty registry, who was in the social programs like Juntos, who had no formal income. They also excluded people convicted of breaking quarantine rules. It wasn't perfect, but it was based on what they already knew about households.