Overview
- The Commission of Economy unanimously approved the dictamen on Wednesday with 21 votes in favor to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to be sole account holders in banks, cajas and e-money providers.
- Account opening will require a one-time, express authorization from the parent or legal representative after which the adolescent may manage the account within limits set by the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS).
- The bill gives the SBS explicit authority to define daily transaction caps, withdrawal limits and a simplified customer-due-diligence regime to address anti-money-laundering and fraud risks.
- The text limits each adolescent to one account of the same type per institution and allows formally employed teens to receive wages into exclusive savings accounts that convert automatically to the general regime at age 18.
- If the Pleno approves the law the SBS must issue implementing rules quickly and experts say those rules plus financial education and fraud controls will determine whether the reform safely expands formal banking for roughly 1.5 million Peruvian adolescents.