Banking comes to Coppelia ice cream parlor despite customer reluctance

Banking has reached the famous Havana ice cream parlor Coppelia: payments for eating ice cream can be made through the digital platforms Transfermóvil and Enzona, despite the reluctance of customers.

A report from the capital's official newspaper Havana Tribune ensures that close to 20% of the place's daily income is made through digital payments, with the Transfermóvil platform being the most used.

Even in a court and in the 4 Joyas room, payment can only be made by transfer, while in the rest of the spaces you can choose between cash payments and digital payments.

However, the report recognizes that “the element that most slows down the banking process, at least in Coppelia, are the habits of the capital's residents, who continue to prefer cash payments, with tangible money, before entering the world of QR codes or payment gateways.”

The director of Coppelia Darianna Benimelis also said that the Extra Cash service will soon be implemented in one of Coppelia's side kiosks, which consists of withdrawing money at the same sales points, only by scanning the codes and according to the availability of cash.

In recent months it has been known that many private business owners in Cuba resist carrying out their activity according to the dictates of the government and They reject the obligation to make payments through electronic channels in order to have the necessary cash to make payments and other operations.

In its desire to control the “new economic actors”, the Cuban regime imposed a “gradual” process of banking that, in practice, has posed an obstacle to the circulation of cash, further overheating the scarcity of cash in circulation and triggering inflation and the price of the dollar in the informal market. The majority perception of Cubans is that they suffer from a “financial corralito.”

Cubans frequently criticize the quality of the ice cream offered at the iconic ice cream parlor in Havana.

Last May, A Cuban mother narrated her bad experience during her visit to the place.

Aranay Batista recounted how the daily odyssey of Cuban life, marked by shortages, lines or lack of transportation, was “crowned” by his visit to Coppelia, where the ice cream “seemed homemade, it arrived completely melted. I thought that it was homemade and they had changed it for Coppelia ice cream.”