Trust your phone more than you trust a bank
En medio de una pandemia que golpeó duramente a millones de hogares peruanos, el Estado buscó una forma de entregar alivio económico sin convertir los bancos en focos de contagio. El Banco de la Nación dio marcha atrás en su propio plan, abandonando las cuentas DNI y retomando la Banca Móvil como canal único para distribuir el bono universal familiar de 760 soles a 8,4 millones de familias. En ese giro de última hora se revela una tensión permanente en las políticas de emergencia: la urgencia de actuar rápido choca siempre con la necesidad de actuar bien.
- El gobierno anunció un sistema de cuentas DNI para 670.000 familias y lo abandonó en cuestión de días, generando confusión entre los beneficiarios más vulnerables.
- La aglomeración en agencias bancarias representaba un riesgo sanitario real, y el cambio de última hora buscó evitar que las filas para cobrar el bono se convirtieran en cadenas de contagio.
- La Banca Móvil permite retirar dinero marcando un código desde cualquier teléfono celular, sin cuenta bancaria ni tarjeta, a través de cajeros automáticos y agentes MultiRed en todo el país.
- El cronograma de registro avanza según el último dígito del DNI, con un proceso de seis pasos diseñado para ser accesible incluso para quienes no tienen smartphone propio.
- Quienes no cuenten con teléfono personal pueden inscribirse con el número de un familiar, aunque ese dato no podrá modificarse una vez registrado.
El jueves 17 de diciembre, el Banco de la Nación sorprendió al anunciar que dejaba atrás el sistema de cuentas DNI —presentado apenas días antes— para volver a la Banca Móvil como único canal de pago del bono universal familiar. El bono, de 760 soles, está destinado a 8,4 millones de hogares afectados económicamente por la pandemia, y el cambio buscaba evitar que las agencias bancarias se llenaran de personas en plena emergencia sanitaria.
La lógica era simple: mantener a la gente en casa y alejarla de las colas. La Banca Móvil ya había sido el método original antes del anuncio de las cuentas DNI, y su retorno implicaba que incluso quienes ya se habían inscrito en ese sistema debían migrar al nuevo esquema. El cronograma de registro, basado en el último dígito del DNI, se mantuvo sin cambios, con inicio el 18 de diciembre para quienes tuvieran documento terminado en 7.
El proceso fue diseñado para no excluir a quienes están más lejos del sistema financiero formal. Sin necesidad de cuenta bancaria ni tarjeta, el beneficiario valida sus datos personales, registra un número de celular de cualquiera de las cuatro operadoras principales y recibe un código de acceso por mensaje de texto. Luego marca *551# desde su teléfono, ingresa el código, solicita el retiro y obtiene una clave de cinco dígitos válida por 48 horas para usar en cajeros o agentes MultiRed.
Quienes no tengan teléfono propio pueden usar el de un familiar. Si el plazo de 48 horas vence sin que se haya retirado el dinero, es posible generar una nueva clave. La única decisión irreversible es el número de celular registrado. En un país donde millones desconfían de la banca tradicional, este sistema apostó por la simplicidad del teléfono y un código como puerta de entrada al alivio económico.
Peru's Bank of the Nation abruptly reversed its distribution plan for the second round of the universal family bonus on Thursday, December 17th, shifting away from a newly announced system and back to mobile banking—a move designed to keep people out of crowded bank branches during the pandemic.
The bonus in question is 760 soles, roughly $230 at the time, meant to reach 8.4 million households that had been economically hammered by COVID-19. The government had initially announced that 670,000 of these families would receive their money through something called a DNI account—a system tied directly to Peru's national ID number. But that plan lasted only days. On Friday, December 18th, the bank announced that everyone, including those already enrolled in the DNI account system, would instead need to sign up for Mobile Banking, a service that lets people access their money through their phone without ever stepping into a branch.
The reasoning was straightforward: keep people home, keep them safe, keep the virus from spreading through teller lines. Mobile Banking had been the original method before the DNI account announcement, and now it was back. The enrollment schedule remained unchanged—beneficiaries would register based on the last digit of their national ID, with those ending in 7 able to start on December 18th.
The process itself was designed to be accessible even to people without smartphones or bank accounts. A person would validate their personal information—ID date, birthplace, parents' names—then register a mobile phone number with one of Peru's four major carriers: Entel, Movistar, Claro, or Bitel. The system would send them a four-digit access code by text. From there, they'd dial *551# on their phone, enter that code, select withdrawal, specify the amount, and confirm. The bank would then send a five-digit withdrawal code good for 48 hours. With that code in hand, they could walk into any ATM or MultiRed agent—a network of authorized retailers that function as informal banking points—and pull out their cash without a card, without an account, without ever having to navigate a traditional bank.
For those without their own phone, the system allowed them to use a family member's number instead. The only permanent choice was the phone number itself—once registered, it couldn't be changed. Everything else could be adjusted if something went wrong: if someone missed their 48-hour window to withdraw, they could generate a new code and try again.
The shift revealed the tension between two competing priorities in Peru's pandemic response: the need to get money into people's hands quickly, and the need to do it in a way that didn't turn banks into vectors for disease. The DNI account system had promised a more direct, account-based approach. Mobile Banking was older, more distributed, less centralized. It asked people to trust their phone and a five-digit code instead of a bank account number. For millions of Peruvians already skeptical of formal banking, it was perhaps the more natural choice. For the government, it was a way to deliver relief without creating the very crowds it was trying to prevent.
Citas Notables
If you are a beneficiary in the DNI account modality, you must now enroll in Mobile Banking to collect your Universal Family Bonus— Bank of the Nation statement, December 17, 2020
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did the government switch systems so suddenly? Wasn't the DNI account supposed to be simpler?
On paper, yes. But simpler for whom? A DNI account still required people to go to a bank at some point, to set it up, to understand it. Mobile Banking asks less of people—just a phone number and a code. During a pandemic, that mattered.
But 8.4 million people is a massive number. How many of them actually have phones?
That's the real question, isn't it. The system lets you use someone else's phone if you don't have one. But that assumes you know someone, that they trust you with their number, that they're willing to be tied to your withdrawal. It's a workaround, not a solution.
What happens if someone misses the 48-hour window to withdraw?
They generate a new code and try again. The system is designed to be forgiving about timing. What it's not forgiving about is the phone number itself—once you register it, you're locked in. If you give the wrong number by accident, you're stuck.
So the government is essentially saying: trust your phone more than you trust a bank?
In a way, yes. And for people who've never had a bank account, who've never trusted formal banking, that might actually feel safer. Your phone is yours. A code is simple. A bank is complicated and far away.
Does this actually reduce COVID transmission, or is it just theater?
It reduces the number of people in bank branches. Whether that translates to fewer infections depends on where people go instead—to ATMs, to MultiRed agents, to crowds gathering outside those places. The intent is clear. The execution is messier.