The magnetic cards that work in Cuba are again operational after this morning there was a stop for “essential technological updates”.
THE FINANCIAL CIMEX SA (FINCIMEX) reported on their networks that at 3:00 am on Monday “the card processing system per POS was restored.”
“The objectives of the scheduled stop and announced last Friday, were fulfilled in less time than the estimate,” said the entity, which reiterated its apologies “due to the discomfort caused.”
As previously explained Fincimex – belonging to the military conglomerate Business Administration Group (GAESA) -, the stop was scheduled until 6:00 am so that the service was “available for the time of greater operational demand”.
When announcing the temporary interruption of the cards, the financial said that it would not include the servicenters in Cuban pesos (CUP) and that the national payments of payments (transfermobile and in zone) would be maintained as “alternatives”, as well as “the Use of cash in those places where its use proceeds ”.
Absent cards
The cards affected by the brief stop, according to Fincimex, would be “all those that circulate in the country.” However, by listing these, he only mentioned those of Redsa, AIS, Classic, Visa, Mastercard, Union Pay and Mir.
In that list, the cards in CUP are not included, but neither are those of MLC. In both cases these are magnetic cards issued by the banking institutions of the island and not by Fincimex or foreign banks.
Such absence raised suspicion in the networks, at a time when the Cuban government has redoubled its commitment to dollarization and has opened spaces – like the new 3rd and 70 market, in Havana – in which payments are not accepted in MLC .
The Government defends dollarization as “a necessary process”, with the mlc in mince
The “essential” updates for card processing, with the symptomatic absence of MLC, has been interpreted by Internet users as a more step towards a presumable disappearance of the latter, after they were promoted years before by the government itself.
This scenario also coincides with the extension of functionalities of the classic card – created in 2024 to make certain currency purchases, including those of fuel -, to which Fincimex now gives a greater support in the context of dollarization in the Island and many see as the heiress of cards in MLC.
Among the News announced The authorization of payments are counted through the enzone catwalk, the possibility of transferring balances between these cards and AIS cards – also farmex -, the next integration into the transfer platform and also the future qualification for use in international virtual stores .
