Fintech & digital payments rules in Venezuela (2026)

SUDEBAN Resolution No. 001.21 (issued 4 January 2021, in force 17 June 2021) requires fintech entities to obtain prior SUDEBAN authorization as an ITFB, with a binding opinion from the Higher Body of the National Financial System (OSFIN). Applicants must be incorporated as a Venezuelan corporation, have at least five shareholders, include 'ITFB' in their corporate name, and post a performance bond of at least EUR 20,000-equivalent at the BCV exchange rate.

The Banco Central de Venezuela governs all domestic payment systems by statute, including high-value interbank settlement and the Pago Móvil instant-payment rail. The BCV updated maximum bank-commission tables via Official Gazette No. 43,231 (October 2025), and reported Pago Móvil processing approximately 376 million operations per month as of April 2025, moving roughly USD 3 billion monthly.

Venezuela has no dedicated e-money institution (EMI) or payment institution (PI) licensing category independent of the banking regulatory perimeter. Fintech firms must either obtain ITFB status under SUDEBAN's banking-sector framework or partner with licensed banks; there is no PSD2-style or EMI-style standalone regime.

SUNACRIP, established by Presidential Decree 3,196 (2018) to license and supervise crypto-asset activities, has been in administrative reorganization and effective paralysis since 2023 following the corruption arrest of its director. The state Petro cryptocurrency was discontinued by 2024; a government mining crackdown confiscated over 11,000 ASIC miners. Despite this, USDT volumes transiting Venezuela were estimated at USD 44.6 billion from mid-2024 to mid-2025.

No open-banking mandate, data-sharing or API obligation, or BNPL-specific regulatory framework has been enacted as of mid-2026. Consumer credit remains governed by general banking law and periodic BCV interest-rate resolutions, most recently BCV Ruling No. 25-12-01 (December 2025) introducing a credit-value-unit indexation mechanism.

Broad US OFAC sanctions on Venezuela—including designation of the BCV and state-owned banks—have severely restricted access to SWIFT and international payment rails, shaping the domestic fintech ecosystem toward local solutions. OFAC General License 57 (issued April 2026) authorizes narrow categories of financial services involving the BCV, Banco de Venezuela, Banco del Tesoro, and Banco Digital de los Trabajadores.