As the financial service provider Western Union announced, transfers to Cuba from all 50 states will be accepted once more with immediate effect. On Jan. 4, Western Union began sending remittances to Cuba once more following a three-year hiatus due to sanctions, though only through offices in the greater Miami area. This restriction now expires with today’s end of the test phase, which the company.
Remittances from family and friends abroad were Cuba’s second most important source of foreign exchange as of 2020. In the context of the current economic crisis, the rush is still great, at the same time money transfers have become increasingly difficult in the past. Former US President Donald Trump brought the company’s Cuba business to a standstill in November 2020 with new sanctions once morest the financial services provider Fincimex, which is run by the Cuban military. Fincimex had previously been Western Union’s main partner on the island for decades. With the cessation of Western Union, all 400 branches of the provider on the island had to close.
In the course of the announcement of smaller easing steps by the Biden administration on May 16, 2022, the bans on private money transfers that had applied until then were relaxed and limits were raised once more. Cuba had previously created a new state-owned financial services provider, Orbit SA, which is not affiliated with the military.
The transfer limit is $2000 per transaction. With the opening for all states, transfers can also be ordered once more via website and app. The service is currently only available in the United States, and Western Union still cannot send money from outside the United States.
As the state news portal Cubadebate reports, Western Union broadcasts can once more be received on the usual channels, including transfers to foreign exchange accounts of the banks BPA, Bandec and Banco Metropolitano (Banmet).
Further sanctions, the abolition of which is being discussed, remain in force following the easing last May. For example, according to a report released on Wednesday, Cuba was once more listed as a “state sponsor of terrorism” for 2021, excluding Cuba from the global financial system. It is unclear whether, in view of the renewed mention in the US list, a deletion would also be possible by presidential decree this year. Kubas criticized the resumption under Trump as an arbitrary measure.
