The Finimex SA Financial Company announced on Tuesday Temporary interruptions that will affect the use of magnetic cards in Cuba until next November.
As a result, the cards will cease to be operational on the island during the early morning of every Monday between August 11 and November 3.
These technical stops pursue “increase card processing capabilities and better operation in the points of sale (POS),” the entity explained.
The interruptions – protected from 12:30 am to 6:00 am to take advantage of the schedule of lower operational activity – will affect a group of cards with circulation on the island, mainly intended for the payment in foreign exchange: Redsa, AIS, Classical, Visa, Mastercard, Union Pay and Mir.
The planned dates are August 11, 18 and 25; 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 September; and 6, 13, 20, October 27 and November 3.
The duration of the stops will not exceed six hours, according to Fincimex.
The company clarified that fuel purchase services in Cuban pesos will not be affected, but those in US dollars.
In addition, he reiterated that he works “in the improvement and optimization of his services to achieve the satisfaction of his clients”, to which He apologized for the inconvenience that may cause the next interruptions and invited to contact their official channels in the face of any doubt.
Although the specific scopes of the improvements or their impact on the client experience were not detailed, these actions aim to strengthen the technological infrastructure of the electronic payment system in Cuba, promoted by the Government through its policies of computerization of society and the controversial banking process.
It is stopped, now more prolonged, it is similar to the January of this year, wheneither Fincimex – belonging to the military conglomerate Business Administration Group (GAESA) – temporarily interrupted the operations of magnetic cards on the island.
As now, the affected cards did not include the cards in CUP or MLC issued by the banking institutions of the island and not by Fincimex or foreign banks.
That absence raised suspicion in the networks at a time when the Cuban government promoted its commitment to dollarization and began to open establishments such as the 3rd market. and 70, in Havana.
With the passing of the months that bet has been redoubled, with the opening of more and more stores and services for payment with currency cards, and the closure or change towards that modality of establishments that sold in MLC.
The interruptions now announced seem to reaffirm the preminence that the authorities will continue to grant to these cards to the detriment of those of MLC, virtual currency whose price remains in the informal market and which many continue to predict an upcoming disappearanceafter a few years ago it was promoted by the government itself.
