Rafael Páez

Venezuelan tech entrepreneur who created Latin America's first peer-to-peer payment system during the economic crisis

Rafael Páez (b. 1978) revolutionized financial technology in Venezuela through his creation of PaguePA, the first peer-to-peer payment platform launched in 2007. Facing hyperinflation and banking collapse, Páez developed a system allowing users to transfer value through text messages, bypassing traditional banks. His innovation enabled millions to conduct transactions during Venezuela's 2010-2020 economic crisis, earning him the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer Award in 2013.

As CEO of Tech4Venezuela, Páez trained over 15,000 developers through his Code the Future initiative, creating a skilled workforce that later built similar platforms across Latin America. His 2015 book Building Resilience in Digital Deserts explains how technology can empower communities facing systemic failures. Páez's open-source payment protocols are now used in 9 countries, including Colombia and Argentina.

His work inspired the Cbanca app, which handles 30% of Venezuela's digital transactions. Despite leaving Venezuela in 2018, Páez continues to advocate for decentralized financial systems through his Digital Equity Foundation. His TEDx talk When Banks Fail, Code Becomes Currency (2019) has become a key resource for fintech innovators in crisis regions.