Visa and MasterCard will leave Venezuela before January 2020
The Central Bank of Venezuela, in conjunction with the Superintendency of Banks, asked the Venezuelan banking to develop a domestic network for transactions that does not require agreements with Visa, Mastercard and Maestro
The joint resolution of the aforementioned institutions states the measure will start from next November 30th for debit operations and from January 30th 2020 for credit card payments.
The publication SIB-DSB-04714 of May 16th instructs banks to generate a “sovereign” system of payments by massifying the use of biometric identification. The regulation grants a term of 60 days counted from the date of reception of the communication so that the entities adopt a biopay system.
In addition, entities must “allow the authorization of electronic payment transactions validated under the biometrics authentication factor, given that they will be identified with a superior security element (Category 5) when using the key or PIN associated with the traditional debit card.”
On the other hand, the communiqué orders banks to stimulate and promote the massive use of Interbank Mobile Payments Services Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Commerce (P2C).
Also, as of July 30th, banks must offer Interbank Mobile Payments to People (C2P) systems “to allow customers to order payments in real time to legal entities, emphasizing that their use is mandatory through SMS messaging”.
The measures are taken in view that the Visa and MasterCard franchises could be forced by the Donald Trump government to stop operating with Venezuelan banks. Interestingly, the decision excludes American Express and Diners.
To conclude, each bank is ordered to deliver schedules for compliance with these considerations to the Sudeban Technological Risk Management and to the Vice Presidency of National Operations of the Central Bank of Venezuela within a period of 10 working days, starting on May 16th.
L.Sáenz
Source: Bancaynegocios
