Cuba’s Banks Unable to Pay Certificates of Deposit
Many lose thousands of their savings
By Glenda Boza Ibarra (El Toque)
HAVANA TIMES – Two years ago, Daymi contacted elTOQUE because the Bank of Credit and Commerce (Bandec) owed her dollars from her savings account. “Why, if there is money in Cadeca (the Currency exchange locals), don’t they prioritize people who are waiting for their foreign currency and instead almost force them to withdraw their money in Cuban pesos?” she asked.
In mid-September 2024, Iran Morejon Quintana, who “has” the money to study in Spain, complained on social media about not being able to use it. In a Banco Metropolitano (Banmet) account, he has deposited 3,130 Euros from his personal savings. “Banmet refuses to give me my money. The Central Bank of Cuba says it cannot override the will of Banco Metropolitano,” he posted.
Almost four years after the monetary unification that forced many Cubans to convert their “foreign currency savings accounts” into “certificates of deposit”. The excuse given to Daymi, Iran, and other clients of any Cuban bank is almost always the same: “we don’t have liquidity.”
Available balance?
Certificates of deposit are financial instruments issued by banks with the promise of returning the deposited money, plus interest, after a set period of time.
However, in the Cuban context, these instruments have been marked by non-compliance and a loss of trust in the country’s financial system.
In December 2020, after the announcement of the Tarea Ordenamiento (Monetary Reorganization), Marta Sabina Wilson Gonzalez —then the president of the Central Bank— explained on the Mesa Redonda TV program that Cuban peso accounts that were transferred to dollars or euros would receive a certificate of deposit.
According to her, the accounts would have an annual interest rate of 0.15% and could not receive deposits or make transfers to other banking products.
“In the case of collaborators (who worked on government missions abroad) who have a 30% discount in stores, starting in January 2021, the balance will automatically change to Cuban pesos, as well as future income from the employing entities,” said Wilson.
At that time, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel assured that no one should worry about their accounts, including those who work on government missions. However, it is these very collaborators, both those contracted abroad by the state and those working independently, who have been most affected by the 2021 monetary unification.
According to doctors from Bayamo, Eliannys Saborit Oliva and Alfredo Miguel Ramos, who spoke to Juventud Rebelde, they have been trying since October 2023 to withdraw their payment for three years of service in Angola from the Banco Popular de Ahorro.
“This situation is more critical in Granma province, and due to banking policy, they don’t accept our request for foreign currency in another province with more availability because we don’t reside there. Meanwhile, our fellow medical mission colleagues from other provinces have already had their requests fulfilled,” they said.
Like Iran, the doctors from Granma haven’t found success in sending complaints to the Councils of Ministers and State. The response, processed by the Central Bank, is always the same: “there is no availability.”
Promises with no set fulfillment date
Deciding whether to convert the CUC (now a defunct currency) account to Cuban pesos or foreign currency and receive a certificate of deposit was a difficult decision for many Cubans. The foreign currency accounts wouldn’t be backed by MLC (the magnetic dollar for use in government stores), and therefore, those who “converted” their accounts had no guarantee of when they could withdraw the cash, as explained by the authorities in 2020.
Even so, those who decided to keep their savings in “hard currency” never imagined they would have to wait years to recover them.
“Patience,” urged the state media Cubadebate to those who had their savings in any currency. In a 2020 article, the web publication assured that people’s deposits would be respected. Four years later, “patience” is something many no longer have.
“In theory, customers still have their available balance, but they can’t operate with it,” commented a teller at a Bandec branch who spoke anonymously. “When foreign currency is deposited, priority is given to those who have previously requested a withdrawal and have a ‘savings passbook.’ They are given up to 100 USD or euros per person to cover more clients.”
However, he mentioned that some people take years to withdraw the total balance of their account or even leave the country permanently and must leave a power of attorney so that a friend or relative can complete the withdrawal.
“Others take advantage of the option to receive the equivalent in another foreign currency if it’s available, and the most desperate exchange the balance to Cuban pesos at the rate of 1 USD per 120 pesos,” explained the teller. This represents a significant financial loss since the official exchange rate is far below the market rate of over 300 pesos to 1 USD.
Savings that disappeared
“False news has been spreading in some Cuban collaboration missions abroad, where people were misled into believing they would lose their account and money,” Cuban authorities assured in 2020. In light of what has happened since, the news wasn’t entirely false.
Collaborators, and Cubans in general with certificates of deposit, have not been able to withdraw cash from their accounts, convert them to MLC accounts, or transfer their balance to the new dollar cards issued by Fincimex and Bandec.
The official government response has been generally evasive. There has been no clear acknowledgment of the non-compliance with Certificates of Deposit or a compensation plan for affected savers who have seen their contractual rights violated.
“What happens when those savings disappear at the hands of the institution that is supposed to guarantee the safety of our money? Where is the guarantee and backing for those foreign currency accounts? When is the bank going to honor its commitments to the people who deposited their savings in it?” asked Havana resident Yunior Setien.
In some cases, partial or full reimbursements in national currency have been offered, which many find insufficient and unfair due to the constant devaluation of the Cuban peso.
In a comment on a series of posts from the Central Bank of Cuba, Jose Antonio Solana called the treatment of the affected people disrespectful. “These accounts weren’t frozen by any foreign government; it was the national financial and banking authorities themselves, those who are supposed to serve and protect the people.”
The inability to withdraw isn’t the only loss Cuban collaborators have faced. In some cases, they also experienced the devaluation of their lifetime savings due to high inflation rates and the peso’s loss of value on the informal market.
Such is the case of a surgeon from Las Tunas who has participated in several “missions abroad” and spoke to elTOQUE anonymously.
“I had $4,832.30 USD in a Bandec account,” he recalls precisely. “Since we didn’t know when we could withdraw it, I exchanged it at the rate of 1 USD for 24 pesos. It was about 115,000 pesos. I didn’t touch them. Then, the government set the exchange rate at 1 USD for 120 CUP, and my savings devalued again,” says the now-retired doctor.
Some affected individuals talk about the desperation of elderly people who, by trusting their savings to the Cuban banking system, not only lost the real value of the promised interest (which has not compensated for inflation), but some cannot even access their original capital.
Other citizens who had their funds frozen for years also reported extreme difficulties coping with the cost of living in Cuba, which has skyrocketed due to inflation and the devaluation of the national currency.
The loss of trust in the Cuban banking and financial system has led many to keep their money under their mattress, take it out of the country, or invest it in business dealings.
Faced with the situation, the government has imposed forced banking and other “incentives” to capture foreign currency and recover Cuban pesos in cash. However, even with these measures, the banks have not managed to regain liquidity. Keeping money in the bank is no longer an option for Cubans.
First published in Spanish by El Toque and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.