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Western Union has聽 its limited money transfer services between the US and Cuba after a three-month hiatus caused by a cyberattack on Cuban banks.
Western Union customers can now send money to family members in Cuba from any US retail location or via the Western Union app or website. Funds can be聽 into bank accounts or debit card accounts only at Popular, Metropolitano or Bandec 鈥 three of Cuba鈥檚 major banks.
Due to US sanctions, the service is limited to non-commercial money transfers and send-to-self transfers are prohibited. Recipients must be Cuban nationals and must be blood relatives or in-laws of the sender.
US customers can remit up to $2,000 per transaction and must present a valid government-issued ID to do so.
Transfers must be made in US dollars and must be received in Moneda Libremente Convertible (MLC), a digital currency launched by the Central Bank of Cuba in 2019.
Designed to facilitate remittances and foreign exchange transactions, the value of each MLC unit is fixed at 1:1 with the US dollar.
To move money between the US and Cuba, Western Union partners with local payments processor Orbit, which is a state-owned firm that handles remittances transactions.
Western Union put its Cuba service on hold on January 28 due to a major cyberattack that affected the country鈥檚 banking system.
On February 1, the government had planned to increase the price of petrol by 400 percent, in an effort to raise cash and reduce its budget deficit.
The price hike was postponed in the wake of the cyberattack, and Alejandro Gil, minister of economy, was relieved of his post several days later.
Sanctions back and forth
Since 1962, when President John F Kennedy imposed a聽, Cuba has spent more time under US sanctions than any other country.
For more than half a century, US policy towards Cuba remained largely unchanged, with successive administrations attempting to isolate the country both economically and diplomatically.
In 2015, President Barack Obama met with Cuban President Raul Castro and restored diplomatic relations between the two countries. He also eased restrictions on remittances between family members in the US and Cuba.
In September 2019, President Donald Trump聽 many of Obama鈥檚 reforms, imposing new sanctions on Cuba and redesignating it as a state sponsor of terrorism.
His administration imposed a limit of $1,000 per quarter on remittances between family members, and it also sanctioned two local partners that were working Western Union.
In November 2020, this led Western Union to close more than 400 branches and suspend its operations in Cuba.
Two years later, the Biden administration聽 Trump鈥檚 reforms, scrapping the limit on family remittances but leaving the聽 unchanged.
The US State Department聽 it aims to ensure that 鈥渞emittances flow more freely鈥 to the Cuban people, while not 鈥渆nriching those who perpetrate human rights abuses鈥.
In addition to scrapping the Trump-era remittance limits, the Biden administration also opened up 鈥渄onative鈥 (non-family) remittances to support Cuban entrepreneurs.
鈥淲e will engage with electronic payment processors to encourage increased Cuban market accessibility,鈥 the State Department said.
Against this backdrop, Western Union reformed and聽 its remittance services to Cuba in July 2023.
In the intervening years, Western Union said that many Cubans had turned to 鈥渓ess secure鈥 and 鈥渕ore expensive鈥 ways to remit money, including cash couriers and crypto transfers.
