US-based payments and money transfer company MoneyGram has partnered with Venezuela-based bank Banesco to expand its digital receive network. Following this partnership, Venezuelan consumers are now able to receive funds directly into their Banesco bank accounts.

As per the official press release, this expansion of the digital receive network in Venezuela comes as the country is currently one of the fastest growing receive markets in MoneyGram’s network. This has to do with the shift in the country’s demographics, as more and more Venezuelan families choose to migrate around the world due to the local economic crisis. The new account deposit service extended by MoneyGram is made possible through the company’s global digital receive network which reportedly provides users access to over 5 billion bank accounts and mobile wallets.

Apart from this, MoneyGram enables its customers to cash in and cash out more than 135 currencies as well as cryptocurrencies. As one MoneyGram representative outlined in the official statement, the shifting of the company’s efforts towards the expansion of its digital receive network comes as a response to the consumers’ embrace of digitalisation. They further added that the new account deposit service comes to address the needs of the local population, especially given that Venezuelans rely on such financial products.

An overview of the situation in Venezuela Venezuela is currently undergoing a period of economic difficulties that has caused the population to migrate. As outlined in a study conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), since 2015, over 7 million Venezuelans have migrated from the country. What is more, the IMF further predicts that, by 2025, 1.4 million more people will leave the country.

Provided this becomes true, this would result in the Venezuelan migrant population exceeding 25% of the country's total population a decade ago. Many of the country’s migrants have settled in Latin America, North America, and Europe. As showcased in a survey conducted by MoneyGram, this segment of the population prioritises sending money back home to support their loved ones.

Even more to this point, a representative from Banesco, the Venezuelan bank that made the introduction of the new service possible, emphasised in their statement regarding the new launch that remittances act as a source of income for many households in Venezuela. .