The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury has a clear response for those who fear that asking their bank about remittances to Cuba may have repercussions: a question is not a payment instruction, and that distinction matters.
This is established by FAQ 53 of OFAC, which is listed with an update date of October 26, 2026, although it was originally published in January 2015, and it has not been confirmed what specific text changed or if the underlying regulation was modified.
According to that document, if a customer approaches their bank and asks, "Can I send money to Cuba?", the financial institution can either respond directly or refer them to the OFAC compliance line for guidance. In that scenario, there is no transaction to block or reject, and the bank has no obligation to file any reports with the regulatory body.
The situation changes completely when the client provides concrete payment instructions. If those instructions involve a blocked individual, the bank must hold the funds and notify OFAC through the agency's Reporting System within 10 business days from the time the property was blocked.
When the transfer is prohibited but does not involve a blockable interest — that is, the recipient is not listed on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List or in other blocked categories — the bank must reject it and submit the corresponding rejection report, as established by the OFAC FAQ 36, which was also updated this week.
A point that often causes confusion: not all Cubans are individually blocked. OFAC warns that certain categories may be blocked without being listed nominally in the SDN, but the legality of each remittance depends on the specific beneficiary, the intermediaries involved, the type of operation, and the applicable licenses. It is incorrect to deduce from this distinction that all remittances to Cuba are authorized or that all are prohibited.
Family remittances remain legally possible from the United States to Cuba under regulation 31 C.F.R. § 515.570, as long as the recipient is not a prohibited official of the Cuban government or a prohibited member of the Communist Party, and the transaction does not involve entities on the Cuba Restricted List (CRL).
The operational landscape, however, has become considerably more complicated. Western Union indefinitely suspended its transfers from the United States to Cuba in February 2025, following the inclusion of its Cuban operator Orbit S.A. on the CRL.
Since September 30, 2026, the new sanctions arising from Executive Order 14404 have expanded restrictions on indirect transactions with entities on that list and eliminated "U-turn" operations related to Cuba.
Additionally, starting January 1, 2026, there will be a federal tax of 1% on international remittances paid in cash, money orders, or cashier's checks, although it does not apply to bank transfers or payments made with U.S. credit or debit cards.
Those who need specific guidance before attempting any operation can contact the OFAC compliance hotline at 1-800-540-6322, which the agency itself refers to when a bank cannot resolve the inquiry directly.
What OFAC makes clear is that making that call, or asking the question at a bank branch, does not trigger any blocking mechanism or create any reporting obligation.
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