At the Carnival of Oruro in western Bolivia, tradition reigns. Dancers and musicians perform routines with origins that go back centuries, with visitors traveling from across the country to join the annual religious and cultural festival recognized by UNESCO. Throughout the festival, microentrepreneurs line the streets, selling food and drink to celebrants. At many of these stalls, a hint of modernity appeared: QR codes and an orange sign inviting a new form of payment. This year, visitors to Oruro’s Carnival celebrations could buy their refreshments using the digital platform altoke. The app’s presence in the mountainous region, at one of the country’s most important cultural traditions, reflects the growing reach of technology that creates opportunity for individuals and small businesses across Bolivia.

altoke is a mobile banking and savings platform created by longtime Accion partner BancoSol. Co-founded by Accion in 1992 as the world’s first regulated commercial bank specializing in microfinance, they have remained at the forefront of financial inclusion for over 34 years.

Customers often begin their relationship with altoke by using the app for digital payments, as a fast, safe, and convenient way to make everyday purchases. But cash stored in digital wallets seldom earns interest. BancoSol bridges this gap by allowing users open an interest-bearing savings account within the platform. altoke is a simple, intuitive savings account that’s quick to open and use on mobile phones. Digital payments are convenient. Savings accounts are essential for weathering financial shocks. Combining these services can help users navigate uncertainty and create new opportunities — to build credit, take out a loan, start a business.

The platform serves more than two million customers in Bolivia and Peru, and has already recorded more than 450 million transactions since launching in May 2024. Rural microentrepreneurs are a key audience, as both their location and size make it harder to access traditional financial products. Young people have also benefited. Accounts for 13- to 17-year-olds allow teenagers to build a foundation of financial stability that will serve them for decades to come. International transactions are the next step, and altoke recently rolled out cross-border payments for Brazil and Argentina.

According to the World Bank’s 2025 Global Findex, 87 percent of surveyed Bolivians own a mobile phone, but only 57 percent have an account at a bank or similar institution, and just 26 percent have saved money at such an institution. That’s below the average of 75 percent of adults in other low and middle-income countries having an account and 55 percent having saved formally. Digital financial services like altoke bridge a crucial gap for Bolivians. 

“Technology has really helped us,” says Rolando Rivera, a sugarcane farmer based near Santa Cruz who uses Altoke to manage his farm’s finances. “QR transactions have been a gamechanger for me, living out in the countryside. I no longer have to go to Montero or Santa Cruz just to make a deposit or a transaction. I can handle it all via QR.”

Supporting these unbanked and underbanked populations has propelled altoke to a significant market share in Bolivia’s digital wallet space. Forty-seven percent of balances in digital wallets in Bolivia are now held in altoke accounts. Eighteen percent of the country’s QR code payments are made through altoke. Transactions are instant and don’t require a trip to a physical bank branch, saving time and reducing the risk of carrying cash.

Micaela Huallpa sees the benefits to customers and herself at her electrical supply and lighting store near Potosí. “In my case, some items are high value. Customers can’t keep going to the bank, withdrawing large amounts of cash, and carrying it around, considering the hassle and the time involved. It’s better to just ask, ‘Shall I do a QR payment?’ ‘Yes, sure.’ ‘Done — all set.’ You verify it, and everything is smooth.”