Money Transfers to Cuba From Abroad: What Really Happens?

Many people in Cuba survive day-to-day thanks to remittances received from abroad, a transaction officially carried out through Cuban and foreign financial institutions operating on the island.

However, this topic has been recurrent on social media these days because these services have been interrupted without any official communications.

Starting with Western Union, one of the channels through which people living in the United States, especially in Miami, send money to their relatives in Cuba.

Regardless of the measures imposed from that country, shipments have been interrupted and then resumed, a situation that is happening again according to customers of the company.

However, despite the absence of services, neither the company nor Cuban institutions have officially announced the news, even though some unofficial media outlets report that services could be reinstated in April.

Technical reasons related to a possible computer virus that affected the Cuban technological system and, therefore, money transfers are presumed.

Transactions through Cubatel and Cuballama cannot be carried out either, although platforms associated with Fincimex and ORBIT continue to accept shipments.

Among them are Tocopay and Vidaipay, which operate from anywhere in the world, according to their sponsors.

Still, those interested in sending and those in need of receiving will have to wait a little longer until the “technical difficulties” are resolved, and financial operations can be carried out without delay.

Meanwhile, other possibilities are emerging, such as CaixaBank Home Pay, a Spanish multinational that works for clients of that bank.

There is also Sendvalu, another European company based in Switzerland that delivers euros in Havana and U.S. dollars to the rest of the island.