A Cuban in Havana reported losing 36,000 pesos after making two transfers of 18,000 CUP that appeared to have failed during the process, but she later discovered that they had been deducted from her account.
Mairie Pando reported in a video posted on Facebook that the incident occurred after taking her son to a haunted house and buying three sweatshirts, each costing 6,000 pesos.
Since I didn't have enough cash, I tried to pay the 18,000 pesos via transfer. "I just lost 36,000 pesos by paying by transfer, and right now I don't know who to blame, honestly," she began to say.
According to what he explained, he scanned the seller's QR code and tried to make the payment, but he received a message stating "transfer failure" and suggesting that he contact ETECSA if the problem persisted.
In light of that result, he decided to try again for the same amount. "I'm going to try again, to exceed 18,000 pesos, and I said: 'Look, nothing, this is failing now. Pay me in cash,'" he recalled.
Finally, she paid the 18,000 pesos in cash and left with the three sweaters, convinced that neither of the two electronic transactions had been completed.
The problem arose later when he noticed that money was missing from his account and reviewed the bank transactions.
There, according to his testimony, he confirmed that the two transactions of 18,000 pesos that had appeared as failed had indeed been processed and deducted from his balance.
The woman explained that the business is located far from her home and found it difficult to believe that the seller could remember her among the many customers he serves.
He also did not directly hold the merchant responsible for what happened: “I don’t even know what to do anymore, it’s lost,” he lamented.
The case precisely coincides with a warning issued months ago by specialists from Transfermóvil.
In May, Radio Ciudad del Mar explained the recommended procedure in the event of a failed transfer: never repeat the operation immediately without first checking the balance and the last transactions on the card.
Experts noted that a transfer may appear to be failed for various reasons, including limits set by the account holder, errors in entering data, connection issues, or delays in the response times of the payment router, banks, or the application itself.
The issues with electronic payments are part of the challenges faced by the heavily criticized process of banking in Cuba.
In July, the state press documented the immense difficulties in making payments through transfers, after recording numerous refusals from stores and businesses to accept this method.
Days later, the Central Bank of Cuba announced a new strategy to promote electronic payments, with measures such as faster credits, reduced fees, and bonuses for consumers and merchants.
The most important change, however, was the removal of the limit of 5,000 Cuban pesos for cash transactions between economic actors, which was replaced by a flexible system negotiated on a case-by-case basis between each commercial bank and its clients.
However, the difficulties with transfers are not new, as since 2022, the Banco de Crédito y Comercio (BANDEC) had warned about errors in operations between cards and limited certain claims for incorrect transfers.
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