The Electronic Family Wallet is a parallel account to the personal balance in which the state makes a monetary contribution. The technology considered an automatic and customisable service design. Beneficiaries do not need to go through any paperwork to receive the amount automatically in the Electronic Family Wallet associated with their account each month. In addition, they can configure it through the bank's App; they can deactivate it for a certain period and save the balance of the available balance to use it when they need it. The Electronic Family Wallet allows them to focus the use of the subsidy, as it is only activated for purchases with a bank card at a grocery shop. Shops do not need to go through any formalities to join the system, they only need to accept payment with a POS machine of any brand. The purchase is automatically settled by the Electronic Family Wallet if it complies with the international VISA coding, i.e. it is a supermarket, grocery store, etc. In that sense, it takes advantage of existing technology and adjusts to the consumption habits of families.

The Ministry of Finance strategically led the project with the participation of: Instituto de Previsión Social BancoEstado Laboratorio de Gobierno Ministerio de Economía, Fomento y Turismo Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia Superintendencia de Seguridad Social 135 citizens participated in the design and testing of the user experience.

The Electronic Family Wallet benefits the most vulnerable families in the country. It is received by 1.4 million people. Of these 85% are women heads of household.

The Electronic Family Wallet has been actively used by more than 96% of its beneficiaries, more than 1.3 million people from all regions of the country. Through this mechanism, more than U$44,000 million in subsidies have been provided for food purchases. More than 40% of the purchases were made in small and medium-sized businesses. After 3 months of implementation, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Electronic Family Wallet was carried out from a quantitative analysis with operational data, carried out by the World Bank; and from a qualitative approach of the user experience, carried out by the Government Laboratory. These results were presented to Parliament for the continuation of the Electronic Family Wallet, extending throughout 2024.

Although the design process included a phase of experimentation with real users, during the first months of implementation some difficulties in understanding how the Electronic Family Wallet worked were identified. Users required clearer and more concrete information to accelerate their learning curve. Social networks were the most important space for seeking guidance, so it is essential to disseminate information in clear and accessible language also through these media, and not only through the mass media. This is a challenge for the following innovations that require a relatively advanced base of financial education and digitalisation to be used.

The success of this innovation was based on the leadership of the Ministry of Finance and the conviction of the teams of seven institutions that concentrated their efforts on implementation. BancoEstado's participation in the technological development allowed the work to be significantly accelerated. The pre-existence of collaboration agreements between the institutions and the fact that the regulatory component was part of the work components from the outset helped to identify opportunities for innovation through simple and light regulations. Incidentally, the level of banking adoption and digitalisation of the Chilean population allowed the scaling of the Electronic Family Wallet.

In August 2023, the Ministry of Interior created the Emergency Wallet, adopting the digital payment method associated with bank accounts to transfer subsidies to families impacted by floods. This initiative, aimed at housing reconstruction, is usable at construction merchants. At the same time, the World Bank, after evaluating the Electronic Family Wallet, has highlighted its potential replicability in other countries. This recognition is part of the Government to People G2Px programme, proposing its adoption to face similar challenges in other countries. In this sense, the innovation has the potential to become the main mechanism for transferring subsidies digitally within the state.

People-centred approach: The piloting process allowed the original public policy proposal to be adjusted and transformed into a service that is understandable and valuable to people and that really supports them in solving their problems, while at the same time promoting banking and shopping in formal shops.

Inter-institutional collaboration with an agile approach, i.e. with systematic advances and permanent working sessions, was fundamental for the rapid technological and regulatory implementation of the Electronic Family Wallet, managing to scale up to almost 1.4 million beneficiaries in 5 months from the origin of the idea to its launch on 01 May 2023.

To move from bold to sustainable innovations, a culture of experimentation and collaboration is crucial, even if this requires adapting traditional ways of working or original policy ideas. This is crucial to provide rapid and appropriate responses to the population. After research with 135 people, the original proposal was adapted. The associated card was to be widely accepted in food shops, allow activation or deactivation as needed, and offer a variable contribution from 20% to 100% on purchases. The Government Lab was instrumental in the development of the regulation, focusing on flexibility, simplicity and clear language.