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Western Union resumed its money transfer operations to Cuba with a small-scale pilot program and only from Florida, the company confirmed.
Western Union reactivated remittance services between the United States and Cuba, albeit with limited capacity after two years with legacy restrictions.
The company halted the transfers in 2020 after then-President Donald Trump tightened the restrictions imposed by the United States on Cuba. Now, with the Biden administration easing measures, including remittance payments, shipments will cautiously return.
“It is a great pleasure to announce the resumption of our operations in Cuba with an initial phase of testing outbound service from the US to customers with Cuban bank accounts through select US agent locations,” he said. Gabriella Fitzgerald, president of Western Union in North America, according to the Miami Herald.
“The close connection between our American clients and their families living in Cuba, along with the role our services play in helping create better lives, are inextricably linked,” said Fitzgerald, adding that “we are delighted to offer this critical connection once again for our clients”.
The trial phase is being rolled out in select locations in Miami, and transfers can be sent to three government-operated banks in Cuba – Banco Popular de Ahorro, Banco Metropolitano SA and Banco de Credito y Comercio.
The US-Cuba Economic and Trade Council, a private non-profit entity that provides reliable information on the Caribbean island to US companies, published the details of the resumption of these interrupted services in 2020.
For now, these shipments can only be made in person from about twenty locations in Florida and for a maximum of $2,000 a day, the council said on its website.
Remittances are relevant to the income of thousands of families in Cuba. Between 2005 and 2020 they represented 6% of the gross domestic product, GDP, according to independent expert estimates.
In 2019 alone, 90% of the money received came from the US and constituted the island’s second source of foreign currency, only after the export of medical services and above tourism.
With EFE and AP
