Digital wallets bring National Heroes to a new generation
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In Peru, Yape, a leading digital wallet, began displaying images of historical figures on payment confirmations.
For decades, Peruvians saw the faces of national heroes like San Martín and Belgrano on their currency, prompting questions and stories about the country’s past. As digital payments with cards, QR codes, and virtual wallets replaced cash, those faces disappeared from everyday life.
Yape responded by launching “Yapeos ilustres” (Illustrious Yapeos), adding illustrated versions of figures like Miguel Grau, José Quiñones, and Santa Rosa de Lima to the receipts within its app. Each time a user makes a transaction, one of these historical faces appears briefly alongside the payment confirmation. The company believes modernizing does not require abandoning history, but rather finding new ways to preserve it.
With over 18 million users in Peru and a 45.8% increase in per capita digital payments in one year, Yape’s initiative aims to reintroduce these figures to a generation increasingly focused on screens. The company hopes these brief digital appearances will spark curiosity and continue the tradition of passing down knowledge of Peru's past, just as a face on a bill once did.
