ECB postpones pilot plan to use electronic money

The pilot plan for electronic money, that the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE for its Spanish acronym) announced it would begin today, was postponed for a few days. Last Friday, the ECB reported that tests on macroagents (shops and financial institutions where transactions can be made) will begin on early November and will end on the 15th of that month.

The pilot plan consists in loading and unloading money on cell phones, person to person transactions and purchase products at selected stores, according to the BCE.

Financial entities involved in the test are already choosing the volunteers who will participate in the process. This was stated by Ephraim Vieira, President of the Banco del Pacifico, who said that for 20 days the bank will monitor “all the transactional activity” performed by the 100 people selected by them, in three agencies of Quito and two of Guayaquil.

While the telecomunications company Movistar reported that its role in the plan will be providing connectivity to its selected customers.

According to the BCE, the companies that have signed the agreement are: El Rosado GPF (Sana Sana,) Difare (Farmacias Cruz Azul), Almacenes Tia , Mutual Pichincha, Banco del Pacifico and the coopertatives Guamote (Chimborazo), Santa Rosa (Manabi ), 29 de Octubre (Pichincha-Guayas), Juventud Progresista Ecuatoriana (Azuay), Cooperativa Cámara de Comercio de Ambato (Tungurahua), Cooprogreso (Guayas, Pichincha), Banco Coopnacional and Finca.