The Banco Metropolitano announced on Monday the indefinite suspension of appointment reservations for cash withdrawals at its branches in Havana, a measure that directly impacts thousands of Havana residents who rely on this system to access their money amid an unprecedented banking and energy crisis.
According to the official statement released by the entity, the cause is straightforward: "the interruptions caused by the lack of electricity supply in the capital." The suspension affects the appointments that were managed through the platforms MiTurno by Transfermóvil and Ticket by EnZona for the cash withdrawal service.
The bank clarified that other procedures—opening or transferring savings accounts, certifications or account statements, loan applications or expansions, and requests for manager's checks—are still available through online appointments on both platforms. The statement concludes with a brief phrase: "We apologize for the inconvenience caused."
The measure comes just four days after Cuba reported the highest historical electric deficit in the country: 2,208 MW at 8:50 PM on June 25, leaving over 70% of the national territory without electricity. The Electric Company of Havana confirmed that night an additional loss of 640 MW. The capital has been enduring between 20 and 24 hours a day without electricity for weeks, which has rendered ATMs, point-of-sale terminals, and the banks' own IT systems inoperable.
The collapse of access to cash in Havana had been worsening for some time. According to a citizen complaint from June 28, the Metropolitan Bank reduced the maximum withdrawal limit per person from 5,000 to 3,000 Cuban pesos, an amount insufficient even to buy a carton of eggs. More than 50% of the ATMs in the capital were inoperable in May 2026, and by June, only around 200 out of more than 500 machines installed were functioning.
The situation became even more critical on June 15, when criminals robbed a bank branch in the Lawton neighborhood during a nighttime blackout, just hours before pension payments were set to begin. "They stole from the ATM and entered through there," local residents reported. The MININT deployed an operation, but no official information was released regarding any arrests or the amount stolen, leaving retirees unable to collect their payments the following day.
The online appointment reservation system had been implemented specifically to avoid the endless lines for in-person services, but it was already operating under severe limitations: the bank only issued 50 appointments daily per platform. Now, with the total suspension of cash withdrawals, residents of Havana are left without a digital alternative to manage that procedure.
The regime announced a package of 176 economic measures in June, including the authorization of private banking for the first time in decades, but none have resolved the cash shortage or the blackouts that paralyze the banking system. Cuba has over 1.7 million retirees who depend on the state banking system to receive their pensions, and the province of Granma already acknowledged in June that it does not have the 400 million pesos needed to pay its 111,000 pensioners.
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