Ligo

What Ligo does

Ligo is a Peru-based, SBS-supervised electronic money issuer that operates a mobile-first digital wallet and Visa/Mastercard prepaid card platform targeted at the country's unbanked and underbanked populations. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Santiago de Surco, Lima, the platform enables consumers to open an account using only a DNI or foreigner's ID plus a selfie, receive a free virtual card instantly, and request a physical card delivered by courier. The core product suite spans a multi-currency wallet (soles and dollars), an instant CCI interbank account, P2P transfers (Liguea), interoperable QR payments connected to Plin and Yape, payment links for WhatsApp and marketplace sellers, bill payment, and same-day PayPal and Payoneer fund receipt. The technical stack integrates Visa and Mastercard issuance rails, Peru's national CCI clearing infrastructure, and direct connectivity to dominant domestic wallets (Plin, Yape) and offline cash-in networks (PagoEfectivo, Kasnet). For enterprise clients, Ligo offers Ligo Pay (API and Web payment interoperability) and La Mágica (corporate incentive and gift cards) as wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Name

Ligo

Legal name

Ligo

Website

https://ligo.pe

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Ligo is a Peru-based, SBS-supervised digital wallet and Visa/Mastercard prepaid card issuer serving unbanked and underbanked consumers, freelancers, and small merchants with mobile-first onboarding, interbank transfers, QR payments, and PayPal integration.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Wallets and Prepaid Cards

NAICS

Credit Card Issuing (522210)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Currency Accounts, Wallets & IBAN Services (FSAMAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets) (FSAGALAB)

Keywords

• Digital wallet services
• Prepaid card issuing
• Mobile payments
• QR code payments
• Cross-border remittances

Headquarters

HQ city

Lima

HQ country

Peru

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. PayPal instant withdrawal fee: Fixed fee of $8 per withdrawal when users transfer funds from PayPal to their Ligo wallet. This is the primary revenue stream mentioned prominently on the benefits page.
2. Card withdrawal fees: Fees charged when users withdraw cash from ATMs using their Ligo physical card. Full fee schedule available in the published tariff document.
3. Reload fees by establishment type: Fees applied when reloading the Ligo card depending on the establishment type used (bank transfer, cash deposit, etc.). Fee varies by channel.
4. Recarga con tarjeta de crédito: Fees associated with reloading Ligo balance using a credit card, as noted in the blog post on credit card recharging.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Ligo is a Peru-based SBS-supervised electronic money issuer operating a mobile digital wallet and prepaid Visa/Mastercard card platform. It enables consumers and merchants to open an account with only a DNI/foreigner ID and selfie, hold balances in soles and dollars, send and receive interbank payments via CCI, interoperate with Plin and Yape, withdraw PayPal and Payoneer funds instantly, and accept payments via QR codes and links without a bank account or POS terminal. For businesses, Ligo offers the Ligo Pay API for payment interoperability and La Mágica corporate incentive cards.

Product overview

Ligo offers a digital wallet ecosystem comprising a core mobile app (Ligo Digital Wallet) with virtual and physical prepaid Visa/Mastercard cards, interoperable QR payments, P2P transfers (Liguea), and CCI interbank accounts. For businesses, Ligo provides Ligo Pay (API/Web payment acceptance) and La Mágica (corporate gift cards). Additional services include PayPal integration for receiving international payments, international remittances, and bill payment services. The platform targets the unbanked and underbanked populations in Peru who lack access to traditional banking.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ligo Pay: Business payment interoperability solution via API or Web for enterprises.
• La Mágica

Products and services

• Ligo Digital Wallet

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500 million soles in user transaction volume
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• VisacoreTechnology or IntegrationLigo issues Visa-branded virtual and physical prepaid cards, accepted at any merchant worldwide that accepts Visa. Visa's network provides the payment rails for all card transactions.
• MastercardcoreTechnology or IntegrationLigo issues Mastercard-branded virtual and physical prepaid cards, accepted globally at any merchant taking Mastercard. Provides additional payment network coverage alongside Visa.
• PayPalcoreTechnology or IntegrationLigo enables instant withdrawal of PayPal funds to the Ligo wallet with same-day transfer and a fixed $8 fee. This partnership targets Peru's large freelancer and remote worker population receiving international payments.
• PlincoreTechnology or IntegrationLigo users can send and receive money through Plin without needing a bank account, providing interoperability with one of Peru's dominant P2P payment apps.
• YapecoreTechnology or IntegrationLigo enables sending and receiving money via Yape without requiring a Yape-linked bank account, achieving interoperability with Peru's most widely-used mobile payment app.
• SBS (Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP del Perú)coreOthersLigo is supervised by Peru's banking, insurance, and pension fund regulator as an electronic money issuer. This regulatory relationship ensures compliance and provides customer trust through the fideicomiso structure protecting user funds.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mach (by Banco de Crédito e Inversiones): Mach is a Chilean digital wallet and prepaid card provider offering virtual/physical cards and P2P payments. Similar product offering to Ligo's wallet+prepaid card stack, targeted at Chilean consumers, with a comparable mission of providing modern alternatives to traditional banking.
• AstroPay: AstroPay is a LATAM-focused digital payment platform offering prepaid cards, virtual accounts, and remittance services across multiple countries. Comparable prepaid-card-and-multi-currency-wallet model with a focus on cross-border commerce and underbanked consumers in LATAM.
• Tenpo: Tenpo is a Chilean neobank offering a prepaid Mastercard and digital wallet with bill payment and P2P transfer functionality. Direct comparable product-wise (prepaid card + multi-feature wallet) and target segment for underserved Chilean consumers; an instructive parallel for Ligo's super-app aspirations.
• Tropipay: Tropipay is a prepaid card and digital wallet fintech serving unbanked and migrant populations across LATAM and Europe. Similar prepaid card and multi-currency wallet offering with comparable remittance-to-card positioning.
• Ualá: Ualá is an Argentine-founded, LATAM-rolling digital wallet and prepaid card issuer serving unbanked populations. Closely comparable business model: multi-currency wallet + Visa-prepaid cards + interoperable transfers, with similar target segments across Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia.
• Plin: Plin is a Peruvian interbank mobile payment service jointly backed by BCP, BBVA, Interbank, Scotiabank, and other banks. It offers instant P2P transfers across bank apps. Direct competitor in mobile P2P/wallet space that Ligo interoperates with rather than replaces.
• Klar: Klar is a Mexican digital bank offering prepaid cards, high-yield accounts, and consumer credit. Comparable product offering (prepaid card + wallet + credit roadmap) for Mexican underbanked consumers; useful peer for benchmarking Ligo's super-app trajectory.
• Yape: Yape is Peru's most widely used mobile payment app, operated by BCP (Credicorp). It enables P2P transfers, QR payments, and bill payments from a bank-linked account. Direct competitor to Ligo in Peru's mobile wallet space, though Yape requires a bank account whereas Ligo is positioned specifically for the unbanked/underbanked.

Broad incumbents

• Mercado Pago: Mercado Pago is the fintech arm of MercadoLibre, offering digital wallets, prepaid cards, credit, and payment processing across LATAM. Operates broadly across the region with much larger scale than Ligo; overlapping in wallet and card offering but with an infinitely larger marketplace user base and capital pool.
• Nubank: Nubank is the largest LATAM neobank, serving tens of millions of customers across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia with digital accounts, cards, and credit products. As the canonical super-app benchmark for LATAM fintechs, Nubank illustrates the trajectory and capital intensity required for Ligo to reach similar scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ligoperu
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ligo-pe/?originalSubdomain=pe
• Instagraminstagram.com/ligo.pe
• Xx.com/ligo_pe

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ligo