How to pay in Venezuela and what happens if there is no return? 3 keys to hyperinflationary chaos and lack of cash

Pay anything in Venezuela It involves a cumbersome process for which there is no manual, but assumed normally: the dollar is used over the destroyed local bolivar, the shortage of cash is chronic and there is a lack of change.

In a gas station, in a supermarket, in a restaurant, in any store, the question ‘how are you going to pay?’ causes chills in consumers. More than one has had to leave their purchase at the checkout because they could not make the payment for one reason or another.

Here are three keys to paying in this country with the highest inflation in the world.

1.- Do you have bolivars? For the bus

Being a millionaire in bolivars does not translate into wealth: 4,000 bills of 1 million bolivars (difficult to obtain) do not complete 1,000 dollars, for example.

The Venezuelan currency practically lost all of its value and purchasing power between hyperinflation and constant depreciation. Only so far in 2021 it has depreciated almost 73%.

As of this Friday, it enters a reconversion process in which six zeros are eliminated: one million bolívares will become a new bolívar.

Prices are so volatile that it is more common to see labels with prices in US dollars, the currency that de facto reigns in this country that is going through its eighth year in recession.

The vast majority of transactions in bolivars they are made by debit card or bank transfer. Cash, which was practically restricted to public transport, is a headache, as it is very scarce and can only be withdrawn at a bank in long lines.

There are those who for something as basic as giving a tip to a restaurant’s “parking lot” (valet), they have to pay with debit on the premises. Instead of a ticket, you are given the dataphone receipt.

With the conversion will come new banknotes, although the government has warned that the goal is for the economy to be 100% digital, which experts read as an excuse to print little money, which could quickly lose its value.

2.- Do you have dollars? There is no return

70% of operations in Venezuela they are made in dollars, according to private estimates. Many times the bolivar serves as a complement.

A typical scene in a supermarket: if the total is 90,919,608.75 bolivars, the cashier pulls out a handmade table with equivalents between bolivars and dollars and says something like: “It gives you 20 dollars plus a difference”, 2.50 dollars that can be paid at the exchange rate in bolivars with a debit card.

For the customer to hand over $ 25 is not an option because there are almost no small-denomination US bills to give change, much less pennies.

Some customers pay with Zelle, a US banking platform, for their cell phone. Others transfer from accounts in Panama, easier to open from Venezuela.

Certain merchants have even updated their systems to automatically detect transfers from abroad.

Another option is international debit or credit cards, which were little used in the past, especially those from the United States, due to consumers’ fear that their accounts would be blocked by Washington’s sanctions against the government of Nicolás Maduro.

3.- Do you have ‘cash’? It is no guarantee

The condition of the banknotes is also a headache.

Some merchants have machines to detect counterfeit bills, others verify them manually. A stain, a small tear or that they are simply “too old” can be a reason not to accept them.

“Don’t you have another one?” They ask the customer, who runs the risk of leaving the store empty-handed.

The change in dollars is an exception, so it is normal to ask consumers to take products that they were not going to buy initially to complete a round number that they can cover with a bill.

In border regions, although the dollar rules, it is common to see transactions with Colombian pesos, Brazilian reals and even grams of gold.

The euro is less used and its value is usually put at par with the dollar, although in reality it is higher.

In this scenario, cryptocurrencies begin to make their way. Thus, Venezuela ranked seventh in an index by the Chainalysis firm that measured its use by country in 2021.

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