Zelle and Bizum’s business is booming due to difficulties sending money to Cuba

Difficulties in sending money to Cuba through official channels have led to the use of unofficial methods such as Zelle and Bizum.

The state of the banks in Cuba and technical problems have made it difficult to send money to the island, leading to the use of informal money transfer methods that allow recipients to receive foreign currency in cash and benefit from the high exchange rates of the black market. allows for. ,

According to the data of March 6, 2024, The euro is quoted at 322 Cuban pesos, which represents an increase of 50 cups compared to the first month of the year. Similarly, the price of one dollar is 317 and the MLC is 270.

For some time now, most remittance platforms in Cuba have been working with online transfers and recipients can only access this financial assistance through Virtual Dollar Cards (known as MLC cards on the island), which are available only in the country. Work in. And there is a very low exchange rate.

And, due to the growing distrust of the banking system and customers, the money transfer business began to grow, which was condemned by journalists at the time. lazaro manuel alonso, We have talked about him on many occasions.

Today, declarations of foreign exchange supply and demand are very common in Cuba, through agreements with the United States-based electronic payment system, Zelle, and the Spanish payment service provider, Bizum.

Zelle and Bizum: money transfers to Cuba

The absence of commissions means that recipients in Cuba receive more favorable exchange rates, even if they are based on the parallel market rate.

A simple search on Facebook shows samples of these types of ads: