Daylyn Herrera, correspondent for the Informative System of Cuban Television in Santiago de Cuba, posted on Facebook an open complaint about the failure of banking in the province, and then defended her stance in an audio that circulated widely on social media with a phrase that summarizes the crisis: “It hurts me that the money on my card is worthless, that the money of others is worthless.”
Herrera personally visited several private establishments in Santiago de Cuba, and in all of them, he received the same response: "I am not accepting transfers," "I am changing shifts," "No, I've already reached my limit."
In his post, he also mentioned other recurring justifications used by businesses, such as "there's no connection," "the QR code isn't working," or "the account is full," practices that, as he reported, ultimately force the customer to seek increasingly scarce cash.
In her publication, the journalist named businesses such as Café TV, Punto de venta Garzón, and 1era Supermarket as examples of establishments that impose cash as the only method of payment, despite the regime's banking policy requiring them to accept electronic transfers.
The text was disseminated by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, who presented it as a recognition from within the official media apparatus of the failure of that policy.
An owner of a MiPyme —apparently from the business located at Primera and Garzón— contacted Herrera to complain about the publication.
She responded firmly—something rare in the official press—and pointed out that the issue is structural: the merchants themselves also cannot make payments via transfer when they go to buy goods in Mariel or other places, creating a vicious cycle that ultimately impacts the population.
In his post, he also stated that it is impossible to build a digital economy while a large part of the commercial chain continues to operate under the logic of cash.
“At the end of the day, you are also affected by the issue that when you go to purchase your goods, they do not accept transfers,” Herrera told the business owners.
The journalist argued that suppliers should also be able to sell through electronic transfers to prevent the issue from exclusively affecting consumers.
In her original text, the correspondent was even more emphatic: "Cash has ended up becoming a kind of parallel currency, more valuable than the actual money deposited in banks," and she directly questioned the absence of state controls: "Who controls this? Where are the inspections?"
He also criticized that while the state invests resources and technology to promote digital operations, numerous establishments violate regulations without facing visible consequences.
Now, like any good official journalist, she merely “acknowledged” late what everyone already knows, and moreover, in a rather superficial manner to avoid “getting into trouble” with the regime. More of the same.
Herrera's case is not the first within the official media apparatus itself.
In April 2026, the announcer José Yaser Centray Soler, from CMKC Radio Revolución, published a similar report after being unable to make a transfer payment on a shopping Saturday in Santiago de Cuba.
That same month, journalist Yamilé Mateo Arañó captured in the newspaper Sierra Maestra the words of a merchant: "the transfer is the ruin of the business."
The situation reflects the practical collapse of a policy that the regime portrayed as strategic.
In his "report" from the government, Herrera emphasized that the primary victims of this situation are retirees, workers who receive their salaries via card, and mothers who need to buy food but find that having money in a bank account does not guarantee they can make purchases.
Despite the fact that the Central Bank of Cuba issued Resolution 111/2023 to require all economic actors to accept electronic payments, and that by September 2025, there had been 26,538 deficiencies with 15,240 fines and 269 closures, only 3.77% of transactions in Cuba are conducted digitally.
In Sancti Spíritus, at the end of May 2026, the official press acknowledged that less than 10% of private businesses accept transfers as a regular method.
In Havana, a resident of the Playa municipality reported on June 6 that she toured the area without finding a single MiPyme that accepted transfers.
Herrera concluded his publication with a warning that encapsulates the failure: "Banking inclusion will remain a repeated slogan in meetings and official documents, while the law of cash continues to prevail in the city."
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