The Banco Popular de Ahorro (BPA) facilitates pension payments directly to rural and peri-urban communities in Sancti Spíritus, relying on 11 non-state economic agents in the province, as documented by the .
Branch 5102, located in the Colón popular council in the city of Sancti Spíritus, is leading the local initiative. Its director, Yamilsi Arteaga Calcines, explained to the state media that they reached out to self-employed workers and representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises in the area, presented the need to join the program, and received a positive response.
Currently, nine self-employed workers and some small and medium-sized enterprises are participating in the scheme within their area of operation.
What distinguishes the documented experience in Sancti Spíritus from the general model is that a bank worker physically travels to the community to make the payment, rather than delegating that function entirely to a private actor.
The specialist from the Provincial Directorate of BPA, Yunaisy Plasencia Cárdenas, reported having traveled to a community located about five kilometers from the city to disburse pensions to 51 people in a single day, using a neighbor's house as an improvised payment point.
"We prioritize retirees from groups 1 and 2, those born until 1949, as their age, health issues, and transportation problems significantly hinder their mobility," explained Plasencia Cárdenas.
For those who cannot travel to the community center, payment is made directly at their home.
The beneficiaries pointed out that alternatives like this are very much needed. "Given the current situation and the high prices, the pension is not enough, but to get paid almost at your doorstep, without having to deal with trips to Guayos or Cabaiguán, which require a significant amount of money, without the hassle of waiting in line and the time spent, is truly a blessing," stated Julio Quintana, a retired resident of the La Aurora community with a physical disability.
Quintana's testimony reflects a reality that extends beyond the ease of collection: the minimum pension in Cuba is 4,000 pesos monthly, which is equivalent to barely seven or eight dollars at the informal exchange rate, a sum that does not meet basic needs at a time when prices are skyrocketing.
Payments to retirees and pensioners outside of banks began in April as a pilot experience in four municipalities of Havana, where the Central Bank approved that payments could be made at commercial centers, as a measure to alleviate the overcrowded bank branches overwhelmed by the demand for cash.
The option has been expanding to other provinces. In Holguín, the government launched a plan to pay pensions in cash through nearly 20 mipymes and private economic actors. In Guantánamo, the model reached more than a thousand contracts with economic actors to serve 18,344 retirees, 37% of the provincial total.
However, the expansion of the scheme has not eliminated scenes of hardship: in September, elderly people were documented sleeping on the floor during the early morning outside bank branches in Santiago de Cuba to secure a spot to collect their pensions, which shows that the issue of access to cash persists beyond the cases addressed by the program.
Economist Elías Amor has warned that transferring the payment of pensions to the private sector carries liquidity risks for businesses if bank reimbursements are delayed, as well as additional bureaucratic burdens for the participating establishments.
"The payment of pensions is a state function of state responsibility, and any involvement of private agents in this process carries serious risks," he said to CiberCuba.
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