Culqi Review

Culqi is a Peruvian card-acceptance brand for small and mid-sized businesses, sold through POS terminals (CulqiFull), an online checkout (CulqiOnline) and payment links (CulqiLink). Credicorp's Grupo Crédito bought 91.36% of it in January 2019 and now owns all of it, and since 2026 Culqi presents itself as part of Banco de Crédito del Perú (BCP): its merchant contracts are now signed with BCP itself, acting as payment facilitator or acquirer. As of October 2026 the published list rates are 3.44% for Peruvian cards and digital wallets on the POS, 3.99% for foreign cards, and 3.44% + US$0.20 for Peruvian cards online. The pricing page says the commissions are not subject to IGV and vary with sales volume. There is no monthly fee, and online sign-up costs nothing; POS terminals are bought outright from S/85 to S/319 depending on model, tax ID type and bank. POS sales made before 4 p.m. are paid out the same evening at selected banks, with weekend and holiday payouts only into a BCP account, for a fee unless a promotion waives it. Online sales pay out in two business days. The contract has no fixed term and either side can end it on 15 days' notice, but it lets BCP hold unpaid funds for up to 90 business days during an investigation and change fees on seven days' notice; a separate BCP acquirer contract allows holds of up to 180 days. We found no regulatory action naming Culqi, and little independent review data.

Estimated annual cost at three realistic processing volumes, using Culqi’s published online rate plus monthly fees. Real costs vary with average transaction size, chargeback rate, and any negotiated terms.

What Culqi is

Culqi is a Peruvian payments brand that lets businesses take card and wallet payments in person, online and through payment links. Its legal company is Compañía Incubadora de Soluciones Móviles S.A. Credicorp's annual report for 2025 says that company was created in December 2013, and Culqi's own history page says it made its first transaction in August 2015. It began as a startup. Credicorp's 2025 Form 20-F says Grupo Crédito, Credicorp's Peruvian holding company, bought 91.36% of Culqi in January 2019 (contemporary press reports date the deal to mid-January 2019) and 'currently' owns 100% of it, directly and indirectly, without saying when it bought the rest. Culqi's history page dates the full buyout to 2022.

For 2026, Culqi's history page says: 'Ahora somos parte del BCP' (we are now part of BCP). Both merchant contracts on culqi.com (PDF files created in May 2026) name Banco de Crédito del Perú, Peru's largest bank by loans and deposits, as the counterparty, the October 2026 promotions are run by BCP, and the site describes Culqi as a payments platform of the BCP ecosystem. Credicorp's 2025 report still lists Culqi as a separate, wholly owned subsidiary at the end of 2025, and says BCP's own headcount has included Culqi's staff since 2025. We did not find a public filing explaining exactly how the business moved into the bank, so we describe Culqi as a BCP brand run by Credicorp, not as an independent company. Credicorp's figures (the subsidiary's own accounts, before consolidation) also show it lost about S/62.5 million in 2025, after losses of about S/90 million in 2024 and S/89 million in 2023, and BCP had lent it about S/64 million at the end of 2025, so the bank, not the business's own profits, is what stands behind it.

Why we list Culqi as a payment facilitator

Culqi publishes two merchant contracts. Under the main one, the Contrato de Prestación de Servicios de Pago, BCP acts 'como Facilitador de Pagos' (as payment facilitator). It signs up merchants to the Culqi payment system, receives cardholder payments on their behalf, sets payout schedules, and can hold funds. The card processing itself is outsourced to acquirers that BCP has contracts with. Merchants whose 12-month volume reaches US$100,000 on Visa or US$1 million on Mastercard must sign a three-way contract with BCP and the acquirer, which is the standard threshold for a payment facilitator's sub-merchants. The second contract makes BCP the acquirer directly, with rates agreed individually. We chose payfac because the self-serve product most merchants sign up for runs on the facilitator model, at a published price, with payout and holding decisions taken by BCP as facilitator. Culqi is not a merchant of record: the contract says the merchant, not BCP, is responsible to its customers.

What it costs

• CulqiFull POS: 3.44% for Peruvian debit and credit cards and digital wallets; 3.99% for international cards in soles or US dollars, as of October 2026.
• CulqiOnline and CulqiLink: 3.44% for Peruvian cards and Yape; 3.99% for international cards; 3.99% for BCP's Cuotéalo instalments; 3.99% for PagoEfectivo (bank apps, wallets and cash agents).
• Online fixed fee: US$0.20 per sale. The pricing page says it applies to all online sales; the contract annex lists it only next to the domestic card rate.
• Minimum fee: S/3.50 on the asterisked online methods (PagoEfectivo and Cuotéalo) for payments under S/87.72.
• Public-sector merchants in the segment defined by Central Reserve Bank (BCRP) Circular 0027-2022: from 1.20% to 3.99%.
• No sign-up fee for online products and no monthly or maintenance fee on the POS.

The pricing page states 'Comisiones inafectas a IGV' (commissions not subject to IGV, Peru's 18% sales tax) and adds that rates vary with each merchant's sales level and are subject to evaluation. The FAQ says a higher-volume business can get a lower rate by calling the sales line. Culqi also publishes a rate table, of the kind the central bank (BCRP) has required acquirers and payment facilitators to publish since 2023, showing the maximum and average rates its merchants actually paid in April to June 2026. Across all segments the averages were 2.41% for debit, 2.71% for credit and 3.60% for foreign cards, but the maximums were 4.20% for debit and credit and 4.99% for foreign cards, above the 3.44% and 3.99% list rates. In other words, many merchants negotiate below list, and some pay more than it. Ask for your rate in writing before you sign. One more caution on tax: promotions run by Culqi before the move to BCP, such as one in February 2024, quoted rates '+ IGV', so an older quote may not be on the same basis as today's list.

As a worked example, an online shop taking S/20,000 a month in 200 Peruvian card sales of S/100 would pay 3.44% (S/688) plus 200 × US$0.20. At the S/3.85 reference exchange rate Culqi's calculator uses, the fixed fees come to about S/154, for a total of about S/842, or 4.2% of sales. The fixed fee weighs most on small tickets. On a S/20 online sale it adds nearly 4 percentage points, and a PagoEfectivo payment under S/87.72 costs at least S/3.50.

Terminals

The CulqiFull terminal takes debit and credit cards, contactless payments including Apple Pay and Google Pay, and QR payments from Yape and Plin, in soles only for QR. Culqi's October 2026 promotional terms list regular prices for the keyless CulqiFull of S/199 for a company (RUC 20) paid into a BCP account, S/219 with another bank, and S/299 or S/319 for an individual with a business (RUC 10). The keypad model lists at S/85, S/169, S/140 and S/299 on the same basis. Lower membership prices, such as S/99 for the keyless model for a RUC 20 business with a BCP account, require sales through Culqi of at least S/8,000 (RUC 20) or S/4,000 (RUC 10) over 12 consecutive months. Under the standing membership programme terms, the terminal remains BCP's property, the fee is not refunded if you leave, and the equipment is collected if you miss the sales target. The FAQ on the pricing page quotes other prices (from S/179, and S/169 for RUC 20 or S/249 for RUC 10 with a BCP account), and the homepage shows S/219, so treat the figures as indicative. None of the pages says whether IGV is included.

Payouts

Payout speed is Culqi's main selling point. For POS sales, the pricing page says sales made by 4 p.m. are deposited the same day between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at selected banks, Monday to Friday. Weekend and holiday payouts are available only into a BCP account, and only for POS sales. The standing terms for that weekend benefit pay out between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. and charge S/4 for each weekend or holiday day with a payout under S/5,000, or 0.08% of the payout when it is above S/5,000. The October 2026 POS campaign waives the charge for new (or long-inactive) terminal buyers with a BCP account. Online sales are deposited two business days after the sale, so Wednesday's sales arrive on Friday. The contract is more cautious than the marketing. It says the system may take up to four business days to start a payment, funds normally arrive one or two business days after that, and the system does not pay out on Saturdays, Sundays or holidays. Weekend payouts come only from the separate, paid weekend benefit.

Holds, chargebacks and contract terms

The payment-facilitator contract has no fixed term, and either side can end it at any time on at least 15 calendar days' notice. The acquirer contract requires 30 days' notice by notarial letter. We found no early-termination fee, but lent equipment must be returned and membership fees are not refunded. The contract is not consistent about changes. Clause 3.1 lets BCP change obligations, procedures and product functions at any time without notice, while clause 3.3 promises at least 15 calendar days' notice for changes to functions and at least seven for fees, or less in exceptional circumstances. Silence or continued use counts as acceptance, and rejecting a change in writing ends the contract.

The fund-holding powers are wide. If BCP considers transactions suspicious or in breach, or a cardholder, issuer, card network or authority questions them, it can hold funds not yet paid out for up to 90 business days while it investigates. The hold can cover later sales that are not in dispute. BCP can also block the account for up to 10 business days, with sales still accepted but held. If fraud is involved, BCP can hold questioned transactions, and earlier or later ones not yet paid out, for up to 90 business days. Chargeback investigations can run up to 90 calendar days from the transaction, during which the disputed amount is held. You must answer evidence requests within two business days or lose the dispute. BCP can terminate immediately if fraud chargebacks exceed 1% of the amount processed in the previous 12 months. Debts not paid within 15 days of notice can be reported to credit bureaus. Disputes go to arbitration at the AmCham Peru centre in Lima. The acquirer contract allows holds until 180 days have passed, the investigation ends or the merchant is removed, whichever comes first.

Merchants must be located in Peru and process transactions there, unless BCP approves an exception. The contract lists prohibited businesses, including adult content, illegal gambling, payment facilitators, dating services and unregistered lenders. It also lists not-permitted categories by card-network merchant code, including outbound telemarketing, betting and casinos, pharmacies, digital games, crypto sellers, marketplaces, airlines and political organisations. Culqi is not a fit for high-risk merchants.

Reputation and complaints

We found no regulatory or legal action naming Culqi, from INDECOPI (Peru's consumer and competition authority), the SBS banking regulator or anyone else, as of October 2026. Independent merchant reviews are thin. Culqi has no Trustpilot profile that we could find, and we could not find enough other independent ratings to report a score. Culqi lists 24/7 phone support on (01) 643 1050, WhatsApp, an online ticket form and a complaints book, as Peruvian consumer law requires. Its backing is the strongest part of its reputation. As part of BCP and Credicorp, Culqi is unlikely to disappear, but that also means the bank's own risk and compliance rules govern the account.

Who Culqi suits

Culqi suits small and mid-sized Peruvian businesses that want to take cards and local payment methods quickly, without a monthly fee or long contract, and that value same-day payouts. Merchants who bank with BCP get the most from it: cheaper terminals, weekend and holiday payouts, and access to BCP working-capital loans. Online sellers get a checkout that takes Yape, PagoEfectivo and instalments as well as cards, at the price of a US$0.20 fixed fee per sale. Larger merchants should treat the list rates as a starting point and negotiate, since Culqi's own rate disclosures show average rates well below list. Businesses outside Peru, or in the excluded categories, should look elsewhere.