The Argentine fintech Wallbit Pay announced this Friday the decision to close the bank accounts of people whose country of residence is Venezuela, and with it the possibility that users of its platform can receive payments in dollars from the United States.
Through a statement published on Twitter, the startup affirms that the decision is due to the unilateral sanctions of the United States on Venezuela, even though they do not specify anywhere what is the mechanism that forces them to make the decision or really how it affects them. Wallbit such sanctions.
"We would like to clarify that this closure of accounts is due to the sanctions of the United States government with Venezuela, for which we see ourselves in the need to disable the creation of new accounts and not allow new deposits from those accounts domiciled in Venezuela" , points to part of the text.
What about users who have funds in Wallbit Pay?
According to what was stated in the statement, Wallbit Pay clarifies that people domiciled in Venezuela who have a positive balance may withdraw the funds "with all available means" and they, for their part, assure to reimburse "all withdrawal commissions corresponding”.
Affected users must contact the Wallbit Pay support chat to refund the commissions after withdrawing the funds.
The statement does not express how long people have time to withdraw the funds. In the case of deposits that have been generated and are still pending to be credited, they will be returned to the origin account.
“We are truly sorry to have to break this news. We always try from the beginning to generate the product for all people in Latin America regardless of their country of origin. But when operating with partners and regulations of the United States, we must comply with the current regulations that are imposed on us, ”they clarify.
Can Venezuelans abroad use Wallbit Pay?
The closure of accounts only applies to those who reside in Venezuela. In the case of Venezuelans abroad, they will be able to continue using their Wallbit Pay wallet as normal.
What are the conditions for withdrawing withheld funds?
The minimum amount to withdraw is 5 dollars, however, given this announcement, Wallbit Pay allows less than that amount to be withdrawn.
One Twitter user wrote: “I have $3.5 but the minimum is $5 to be able to withdraw it,” to which Wallbit Pay replied: “The amount doesn't matter, Kendrick. Please write to the support chat on the website to proceed with the refund. Sorry for the inconvenience caused."
What are users saying about the Wallbit Pay ad?
After publishing the announcement, there are many users who have left their opinions on the official Wallbit Pay account. One of them wrote: "I think that this could have been avoided if they had been informed and prepared before launching a tremendous campaign for Venezuela, it could have been done in other ways, they don't know how excited it was for many of us."
Wallbit Pay promised users to open an account in dollars in the United States to process payments and shipments, and although this offer it wasn't quite true, the fintech did have a bank account at Provident Bank and user money is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Other users have complained because they have not been able to contact the support team, something that is due –according to Wallbit Pay– to the high demand they have received. They promise to respond to the help chat as soon as possible.
What can be done in Wallbit Pay?
Wallbit Pay is defined as a "Neobank" that allows users to send and receive dollars, which is why it served as an alternative for many Venezuelans who do not have accounts or financial instruments in the United States.
Once the dollars are received, users can exchange them for cryptocurrencies within the same platform.
According to an image posted on its website, if a person sends $1.000 to a user who has a Wallbit Pay account, they would end up receiving 990 DAI almost instantly. DAI is a stablecoin that has 1-1 parity with the dollar.
The general recommendation to users is to withdraw funds from Wallbit Pay and contact the support team. Users will not be able to unsubscribe, the platform will be the one that closes the accounts.
