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The Popular Savings Bank (BPA) publicly acknowledged that it cannot provide cash dollars to its customers due to the low availability of freely convertible currencies, according to an official response published in the state newspaper Juventud Rebelde.
The admission came in response to the complaint of Raúl Viso Zurita, a citizen with dual Cuban and Spanish nationality, who reported in January that branch 3372 of the BPA, located at Hacendado 26 in Old Havana, prevented him from cashing 170 dollars that he was owed from a 325 euro aid granted by the Xunta de Galicia.
Viso Zurita had been scheduled for December 18, 2025 at 12:30 p.m. to withdraw the money, but the bank had no available funds and pressured him to deposit the amount onto a Classic card.
"I went to the bank branch, and the manager told me that there was no money to pay me; although I found out that money (dollars) had come into that bank, and I was not informed," reported the affected party.
The citizen rejected the alternative offered by the bank and described the situation as an infringement: "They are forcing me to deposit dollars onto the Classic card against my will. Receiving that currency in cash is a right that the Bank is violating with me."
The official response arrived signed by Enma Marina Torres García, vice president of the BPA, who sent her explanation to the editorial team of Juventud Rebelde on March 31.
"The complex financial, economic, and commercial situation facing the country, which has a direct impact on commercial banks, has led to a low availability of freely convertible currencies, making it impossible to respond immediately to the growing demand from clients," the official noted.
Torres García indicated that beneficiaries of the Xunta de Galicia were offered to transfer the total amount or at least 50% to the Classic card for use in authorized establishments.
According to the BPA version, on February 8, 2026, the remaining 50% payment was made as there was availability, and the client expressed satisfaction with the service received.
What the bank does not explain is why it did not notify the client when it did have available funds, as Viso Zurita himself pointed out in his original complaint.
The Classic card, which the BPA is trying to steer its clients towards, only allows withdrawals in Cuban pesos via ATMs, CADECA, or bank branches, which represents a real loss for the beneficiary due to the deterioration of the exchange rate.
The case is not isolated. Reports from July 2025 document that Cuban banks are withholding euros from Spanish aid, including programs from the Xunta de Galicia, and forcing unfavorable currency exchanges on the beneficiaries.
The shortage of foreign currency in Cuban banks has worsened in the last year: the dollar in the informal market surged from 345 Cuban pesos in March 2025 to 510 pesos in March 2026, a depreciation of 47.8% in twelve months.
In December 2025, the Central Bank of Cuba implemented the largest official devaluation on record, setting the dollar at 410 pesos, but the informal market remained well above that rate, reflecting the limited real supply of foreign currency in the regime's banking channels.
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