A scene of a meal, featuring a drawn chicken leg on a piece of paper and two bank cards on the plate, was posted by content creator Lili Romero in a viral video on Facebook. Her intention was to highlight the cruel paradox of banking in Cuba: having money and being unable to buy food.
"Well, what you see here is what we are going to eat in the not-too-distant future. Because with the banking system, they have disrupted our lives," says Romero, showing a card from Bandec and another from BPA with available funds that he cannot convert into food.
The reasons are the same ones that millions of Cubans face daily: if it’s not because the ATMs are out of cash, it’s because the connection fails. Most private businesses do not accept electronic payments or transfers.
“Enjoy your meal, water, and choke,” Lili concluded with bitter irony. The video garnered over 571,000 views, nearly 19,000 reactions, and more than 600 comments, reflecting just how much the situation resonates with Cubans.
The banking modernization that promised to transform Cuba and ultimately failed
The Cuban regime formally launched the banking process on August 2, 2023, through Resolution 111/2023 of the Central Bank, with the declared aim of reducing cash usage and promoting digital payments.
Three years later, the failure is recognized even by the official press, which acknowledged in July 2026 the collapse of transfer payments. Only 3.77% of transactions in Cuba are conducted through digital means.
In provinces like Sancti Spíritus, less than 10% of private businesses regularly accept transfers. Private stores reject electronic money because their suppliers demand cash, and without physical liquidity, they cannot operate.
The cash shortage jeopardizes the payment of salaries and pensions across the island. The government of Guantánamo has even admitted that banks do not have enough funds to cover these payments.
A young Cuban recently reported that he was unable to buy rice because no small and medium-sized enterprise accepted his transfer, which is his only available payment method. The case of Lili Romero is not an exception: it is the norm.
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