As of June 26, Venezuelans will no longer be able to use the Zelle service to make transactions, the North American Wells Fargo Bank informed its users by email.
The information specifies that access to the Zelle platform will be eliminated to all those clients who have an account address from Venezuela, starting June 26, 2020.
Currently, hundreds of people in the country are clients of the bank.
The statement states that “Unless applicable laws require otherwise, any of us may terminate this Agreement and / or its access to any Eligible Account or Financial Service online through the Service, in its entirety or in part, at any time and without prior notice,” says the section 6B of the Zelle transfer service addendum in the Wells Fargo’s Online Access Agreement.
The financial entity warns that it can suspend and / or restore access to an Eligible Account or a Financial Service over the Internet through the Service, “in whole or in part, at our discretion, at any time”.
The financial entity states that it is “our sole discretion, at any time and without prior notice to you or other participants of the Transfer Service, to suspend or terminate the service”.
So far only Wells Fargo has sent official communications regarding the suspension of its Zelle services.
With the decision, the possibility that people with Wells Fargo domiciled in Venezuela can use the Zelle for their transactions is eliminated.
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Various Venezuelan users have received email from the bank, whether or not they use the Zelle platform.
Some Venezuelans have reported that despite being users of Wells Fargo bank and residing in the country, they have not received the email with the statement indicating the suspension of Zelle’s service.
Likewise, Venezuelans residing in United States territory have reported that they did receive the bank’s notification, so the measure does not solely correspond to a domiciliary restriction in Venezuela.
Opposition linked economists in Venezuela, clarified that Wells Fargo only suspended the use of Zelle for clients residing in Venezuela, not that it froze or closed bank accounts. They also indicated that more US banks are likely to join the measure adopted by Wells Fargo.
This new decision coming from the United States, that have been promoting a regime change operation using al the means at their disposal, clearly make many in Venezuela believe that it is connected to this strategy.
In recent months due to the relaxation in favor of the use of international currencies in the South American country, many businesses -including big grocery store chains- have opted to accept payments using Zelle. Many Venezuelans, especially from middle class extraction, also use Zelle as a para-remittance tool, selling dollars and paying for them using Zelle, then the buyer transfers the equivalent sum in Venezuelan Bolivars in Venezuelan bank accounts.
Some analysts believe that the chances for other US banks to imitate Wells Fargo decision is high but the risk is also high that many middle class Venezuelans depending on this tool to navigate all the difficulties in the Venezuelan economy (belonging mostly to the opposition) will re-evaluate their support for US sanctions and their local puppets.
Featured image: Fells Fargo branch. File image.
Source URL: Ultimas Noticias with OT content
Translated and edited by JRE/EF
