Peru's SBS Authorizes Lemon Group's Lima del Sol as E-Money Issuer

Peru’s banking and insurance regulator, the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS), has granted organizational authorization for a new electronic money issuer named Lima del Sol EEDE S.A. The entity is tied to the Lemon Group, an Argentine fintech known for its cryptocurrency-focused digital wallet with over 5 million users across Latin America.

The authorization marks a step toward bringing more digital payment models under Peru’s regulatory umbrella. The new company is majority-owned by Nessy LLC, with Aphrodite Technology LLC as a co-shareholder, both part of the Lemon Group.

Lemon already operates in Peru through Lanin Pay S.A.C., a registered digital wallet provider supervised by the central bank (BCRP). Currently, Lemon uses a third-party electronic money issuer for the soles balances in its wallet. With Lima del Sol, the firm intends to bring that regulated layer in-house, managing electronic money accounts, transfers, top-ups, withdrawals, bill payments, interoperable transactions, and a prepaid international Visa card in both physical and virtual formats.

The SBS stressed that organizational authorization is a preliminary stage and does not allow Lima del Sol to start operations yet. The company must later obtain a separate operating license, during which the regulator will verify compliance with capital, operational, technology, risk management, anti-money laundering, conduct, and customer protection requirements.

Lima del Sol joins Bipay as the second firm to receive such organizational approval as an electronic money issuer in the past year. Once fully licensed, both will compete in an increasingly crowded digital wallet ecosystem that already includes Gmoney, Tarjetas Peruanas Prepago (TPP-Ligo), Servitebca, Peruana Soluciones, and Prex Perú, which recently obtained permission to expand into electronic money issuance.

Separately, the SBS also published a resolution modifying market conduct and fee regulations. It now requires financial institutions to notify users within one day of becoming aware of events that may affect them, including service channel interruptions, cybersecurity incidents affecting users, or any losses to account balances or credit lines. This change responds to recent digital service disruptions in the financial system.