BCP turns payment terminals into emergency account-blocking points — Cannes GP

In Peru, more than 4,000 phones are stolen every day, and thieves race to drain banking apps in the minutes before victims can react. BCP's emergency hotline was useless for the very people it served — you need a phone to call it.

Turn shop payment terminals into emergency blocking points: after a theft, victims enter ID and PIN on the POS keypad and instantly freeze all cards — no phone needed.

With Circus Grey Lima, BCP built an open-source API connecting POS terminals to its infrastructure, trained merchants, and mapped crime data to place 17,500+ blocking points in high-theft areas. A customer who is robbed walks into any participating shop, enters ID and PIN on the keypad, and blocks every debit and credit card instantly; telcos partnered to offer replacement phones interest-free for 24 months.

Monthly reports of stolen money fell 48% and an estimated $7.8 million was saved in four months. The network reached more than 34 million Peruvians and won the 2026 Cannes Lions Creative Data Grand Prix, plus a Gold Lion in Brand Experience & Activation.

In Peru, more than 4,000 smartphones are stolen every day. Beyond losing the device, victims lose access to banking apps, digital wallets and authentication tools, leaving their money exposed in the critical minutes while thieves try to drain their accounts. Every bank offered an emergency hotline to block cards — but calling requires the very phone that was just stolen.

BCP, Peru's largest bank, and Circus Grey Lima solved the deadlock by repurposing existing infrastructure: an open-source API turned ordinary POS terminals in small shops into emergency account-blocking points. A victim walks into any participating store, verifies their identity with ID number and PIN on the keypad, and instantly freezes all debit and credit cards — no smartphone, app, internet connection or phone call required.

Using complaint and location data, BCP mapped high-theft areas and launched with more than 17,500 blocking points, training merchants to assist any robbed customer, while telecom partners offered interest-free replacement phones. The service cut monthly reports of stolen money by 48%, saved an estimated $7.8 million in four months, reached over 34 million Peruvians, and won the 2026 Cannes Lions Creative Data Grand Prix.

It started from the victim's actual situation — no phone, no app, no call possible — and designed the emergency channel around what remains.

Turning POS terminals into safety points required no new customer hardware, only an API on devices that already existed everywhere.

Crime data placed the blocking points where thefts actually happened, making the network useful at the exact moment of need.

It changed a transactional device into a public service, giving local merchants a trusted role in financial emergencies.

Check what your customer just lost: if the emergency channel needs the stolen object, the channel is the problem. Repurpose what they still have — the shop around the corner — into the safety net.

SOS POS became a permanent banking service rather than a one-off campaign: it launched with over 17,500 active locations and plans to scale to 120,000 terminals by 2026. At Cannes Lions 2026 it won the Creative Data Grand Prix — the jury praised its 'beautiful simplicity' and 'data used to protect data' — and added a Gold Lion in Brand Experience & Activation, Use of Mobile & Devices.