The SINPE (Sistema Nacional de Pagos Electrónicos) — National Electronic Payments System, the technological platform of the Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCCR) that connects banks and institutions, allowing instant fund transfers (SINPE Movil) by linking accounts to phone numbers, will be available without interruption at the end of the year and the first days of January.
The BCCR clarified that all SINPE services that operate automatically and are used by the public will function normally during the end-of-year and New Year’s period.
The services that will be provided as usual are the following:
- Sinpe Móvil
- Transfers between financial institutions
- Digital signature
- Public transportation payments
The Central Bank made the clarification in order to avoid any confusion about reports that the service would be offline on Wednesday, December 31, as well as on January 1.
However, this information refers to services offered directly to banks through the SINPE system. It does not include services that are available to the public automatically, such as those mentioned previously.
SINPE Móvil Usage Grows in Costa Rica
Between January and October 2025, more than 615 million transfers were registered through SINPE Móvil. This represents a 16.8% increase compared to the 526 million transactions registered during the same period in 2024.
During the same period this year, the value of transfers reached ¢10.1 billion colones. The year-over-year increase is 16.4% compared to the nearly ¢8.7 billion colones registered between January and October 2024.
On the other hand, the number of active phone subscriptions increased from 4.1 million in October 2024 to 4.4 million last October. These figures represent a 6.9% growth.
The average transfer amount remains stable, at around ¢16,500.
The 14th, 15th, 16th, and also the 28th, 30th, 1st, and 2nd of each month see the highest activity. These days account for 26% of all transactions and 30% of the total value traded.
This information comes from data from the Central Bank, recently released by the Costa Rican Banking Association (ABC).