On February 5, the Banking Sector Institutions Superintendence (Sudeban) met with representatives of the Economy and Finance Ministry, the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV) and public and private banks to assess  advances in the establishment on the alternative and complementary means of payment system. The superintendent, Antonio Morales Rodriguez, stated that after a year of promotion and investments, the Naiguatá Program as a whole has had “a 75% progress”. Sudeban expects to launch the platform on March 21.

Franki Medina, Credicard Consortium’s president – a payment processing company – indicated that the program is currently being tested with Banco Nacional de Crédito, Banesco and other entities. “In technological matters we have had 60% progress, all the equipment is already in place, we have already made the quality configuration environment in which we are carrying out the necessary tests. We are setting up the production with IBM’s help to make this approach work. (…) Transactional tests are in process and should be ready soon,” said Medina. 

Superintendent Antonio Morales pointed out that, given the underlying threat of Visa and MasterCard franchises to withdraw from the country, the national payment system is a government security initiative, part of efforts to mitigate the economic blockade promoted by the United States. In this regard, Morales said that “we have been working on alternatives to avoid the collapse of our payment system, such as bio-payment and the interbank mobile payment system.” However, in order to provide greater peace of mind to the population, we will work quickly and technical tables and a contingency plan will be set up to consider all the necessary steps and possible scenarios to make this a successful program”.

The National Superintendent for Cryptoactives and Related Activities, Joselit Ramírez, stated that “we are working together to rescue the economic and financial independence of the country, building a new concept of digital economy. “Together with Sudeban, we are moving forward to define the authorizations for strategic alliances between exchange houses and banks, as well as the establishment of hybrid points of sale that allow transactions in Bolivars and crypto-currencies,” pointed out Ramírez.