Several US banking institutions are notifying Venezuelan citizens and foreigners residing in Venezuela that from the 26th they will be prevented from using the Zelle platform, which includes several US banks.
Owned by Early Warning Services, Zelle is a transfer system that allows Venezuelans to make payments between US financial institutions and instantly transfer money between Bank of America, BB&T, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, US Bank and Wells Fargo.
“I am thinking what to do, because there are some customers who do not have enough bolivars, nor dollars, in‘ cash ’, to pay for purchases and Zelle was an alternative,” explained a merchant to the Lusa agency.
Gloria Aranguren has a small space in the Mercado de Guaicaipuro, in Caracas, where today she was undecided whether or not to eliminate the notice she placed in 2019, which reads “payments are accepted with Zelle”.
“It was an alternative for making payments, at a time when more and more people are paying in dollars,” he said.
According to the Venezuelan press, this impediment will affect several thousand people, who use Zelle as an alternative means of payment in Venezuela, due to the high inflation in the country, the lack of money in notes and to avoid commissions for the use of international cards.
Dozens of stores with imported products that have appeared in recent years in the country and are known locally as “bodegones” use Zelle as a means of payment.
Some of these commercial spaces are priced in dollars, allowing you to pay through Paypal.
However, the Paypal virtual payment system has carefully followed the accounts of residents in Venezuela, blocking some and requiring proof of residence to which they met requirements, such as confirmation of bank accounts, credit cards, debit cards and telephone numbers.
The Venezuelan portal Banco e Negócios confirmed today that Wells Fargo is conducting a general audit of customers’ accounts, who are then notified that they will no longer be able to use the Zelle system, recommending Venezuelans to take appropriate action.
The audit would have arisen after a large number of transactions were detected through Zele by Venezuelans.
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