Banco Metropolitano refuses to refund a deposit of more than 3,000 euros to a Cuban saver.

The Bank Metropolitano refused to refund a deposit of more than 3,000 euros to a Cuban saver who placed their trust in this financial institution to safeguard their foreign currency.

This was reported on social media by Irán Morejón Quintana, who made his situation public after demanding "for the umpteenth time" from Banco Metropolitano (BANMET) that the 3,130 euros he has deposited in their vaults be returned to him.

"My name is Irán Morejón Quintana and I went to claim for the umpteenth time that they deliver to me 3,130 euros that I still have deposited in my personal account because I want to study a master's in Cooperativism and Solidarity Social Economy in Spain," explained the affected individual.

The young man reported that he had been planning his higher education for two years and waiting for a scholarship to start, but finally he had to rely on his savings as he was not awarded the scholarship.

However, BANMET refused to return his money, arguing that they did not have cash available to make the refund. “The Central Bank of Cuba says that it cannot violate the will of the Metropolitan Bank,” said Morejón Quintana.

"I have filed my complaint at the customer service office of the State Council, and they have been unable to do anything to get my money back. What do I do in the face of this abuse? How many laws is Banco Metropolitano violating? How can I get my money before my flight date? Do we, as Cuban citizens, have rights?" the young man asked.

His case prompted several internet users to wonder about the reasons why he had made the decision to deposit his savings in a banking institution of the Cuban regime, notorious for its tricks and scams against savers in foreign currency.

"To obtain a student visa, it is mandatory to make a deposit in the bank to present it as evidence at the Spanish consulate," explained Morejón Quintana to an internet user who said it was better to keep the money "under the bed."

Another user of the social network commented that, in their opinion, what happened with Morejón Quintana violated several constitutional rights of the Cuban legal system, namely the right to property, the right to legal security and due process, and the right to petition.

“What reasons does the Metropolitan Bank give you for not giving it to you?” a user questioned in the comments. “That they don’t have money available. But that’s a lie. I have found out that, through bribes, they give it,” Morejón Quintana replied.

The chaos of foreign currency bank deposits and the failed "Order Task"

The failure of the so-called "economic restructuring and monetary unification," the pillars of the regime's strategy to overcome the economic crisis, left chaos in the Cuban banking system, exacerbated by the subsequent monetary policies implemented to "correct distortions and revive the economy."

The government of Miguel Díaz-Canel has only plunged the economy of the country and affected both new and old economic actors, as well as savers, pensioners, retirees, and other users of the banking system of the communist regime.

In August 2023, the Mipyme "Grupo de Construcciones Pilares" was affected by BANMET's decision to limit cash withdrawals from ATMs. BANMET prevented the company from withdrawing 5,000 Cuban pesos that it needed to pay a supplier who did not accept payment by bank transfer.

At the beginning of that year, the entity set "limits for banking operations related to cash withdrawals and transfers, which are carried out through electronic payment channels by clients in the individual segment."

In June 2023, the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) announced that the banking system and its entire network of branches in the country would allow people to make their deposits of U.S. dollars in a short period of three days.

According to Resolution 176/2021 of the BBC, as of June 21, the temporary suspension of this type of deposits came into effect, supposedly due to the economic sanctions imposed by the government of that country and Cuba's inclusion on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, which complicates the Island's financial transactions at the international level.

In August 2020, the regime authorized self-employed individuals to open bank accounts in MLC for importing and exporting. Customers of BANMET, the Popular Savings Bank, or the Bank of Credit and Commerce would only need to deposit a minimum of 100 US dollars in their accounts to start operating.

However, in December, the president of the Central Bank of Cuba, Marta Wilson González, warned that Cubans would not be able to withdraw dollars from their bank accounts in CUC (nor from MLC accounts) nor could they make new deposits in convertible pesos, on the eve of the disappearance of the CUC starting on January 1, 2021.

Savvy savers could convert the CUC they had in the bank into dollars or euros, but knowing that they would not be able to withdraw that money because those deposits "will not have liquidity backing."

The bank would only issue a "certificate of deposits." In that account (in dollars or euros), it would not be possible to deposit or withdraw money (euros or dollars) or make transfers to other currency bank products.

Those conditions would be modified "when the country's conditions allow for the availability of foreign currency to support these certificates."

"That money in MLC can be withdrawn in a timeframe that cannot be defined at this moment," concluded the then "czar of economic reforms in Cuba," Marino Murillo Jorge, adding that from the money saved in dollars in the banks, customers would be able to make withdrawals in Cuban pesos at a rate of 1x24.

Among the many paradoxes brought by the regime's economic reforms, the latest was demonstrated in February by the state company FINCIMEX, which reported a "technical incident" that prevented the collection of remittances since the end of January.

It was an announcement from BANMET that raised alarms among remittance recipients in Cuba, who reported that they could not collect their remittances, despite the fact that FINCIMEX had not stopped processing them, nor had it notified about the alleged "technical incident."