U.S. BANK WILL OFFER Travelers to Cuba the Use of Mastercards. + BANCO NORTEAMERICANO Ofrecerá Tarjetas MasterCards a Viajeros a Cuba.U.S. BANK WILL OFFER TRAVELERS TO CUBA THE USE OF MASTERCARD.
For the first time, American travelers will be able to use a debit card in Cuba, easing the need to carry big wads of cash to make payments on the island.
Pompano Beach-based Stonegate Bank announced Thursday that it will offer customers a debit MasterCard that can be used in Cuba by Americans who qualify to visit the island under one of 12 categories of travel approved by the U.S government.
The card can be used in about 10,000 Cuban hotels, restaurants and other places that accept cards. Stonegate said it plans to expand the use of cards to Cuban ATMs in 2016.
“This is the first step in relieving the burden of U.S. travelers carrying cash when traveling to Cuba and another step in normalizing commercial relations between the two countries,” David Seleski, president and CEO of Stonegate, said in a statement. “Hopefully more issuing banks will help this process by approving credit and debit cards as well.”
To open a business or personal account with Stonegate requires a $2,500 minimum deposit.
As part of a normalization process between the United States and Cuba that began last December, the Obama administration announced a limited commercial opening toward Cuba that allows expanded travel, trade with private Cuban entrepreneurs, joint ventures with the Cuban government to improve telecom and Internet infrastructure and new banking rules to help support the new relationship.
Most commercial activity between the United States and Cuba, however, is still prohibited by the embargo.
In July, Stonegate set up a correspondent banking relationship with Banco Internacional de Comercio, a Cuban bank known as BICSA, in the first major financial deal by an American company in Cuba since the U.S. resumed diplomatic relations with the island nation. In May, Stonegate also began to handle the accounts of Cuba’s diplomatic missions in the United States.
Stonegate’s arrangement with BICSA, which handles foreign trade financing, foreign exchange transactions and correspondent relationships with overseas banks, was designed to make it easier to transfer money to Cuba. It was viewed as the first step in encouraging financial activity between the two countries.
Americans have been allowed to use credit and debit cards in Cuba since January, when the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued new regulations. But no U.S. financial institutions actually offered any type of cards until Thursday’s announcement, fearing that doing business in Cuba was too risky.
“At this time Stonegate is the only U.S. bank to opt in and they are first to market,” said attorney Andy Fernandez, who heads the Cuba Action Team at Holland & Knight.
One of the sticking points for other banks, he said, is they want clarity on language in the new regulations when it comes to who is responsible for ensuring that travelers fall into the 12 categories authorized to visit Cuba. The regulations say it is up to travelers to identify whether they fall into categories such as travel for research and educational purposes, but Fernandez said there also is a phrase that is giving banks pause.
MasterCard stopped blocking Cuban transactions made on its cards issued by U.S. banks on March 1. But until its partnership with Stonegate, no U.S. banks had supported the cards on the island. MasterCard already has infrastructure there because its cards issued by non-U.S. banks are already accepted in Cuba — mostly at state-run hotels and other visitor-oriented locations.
American Express also has said it plans to do business in Cuba under the new regulations and is working on getting acceptance on the island soon. But it has had to start from scratch because it hasn’t had merchant relations or terminals set up on the island.
Miami Herald/ Mimi Whitefield/Nicholas Nehamas/InternetPhotos/Excerpts.
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor.
CUBA HOY/TODAY: Foto frente al Capitolio Nacional Cubano. (En Reparacion).
U.S. BANK OFRECERÁ TARJETAS MASTERCARD A VIAJEROS A CUBA.
Un banco estadunidense anunció este jueves que a partir de ahora ofrecerá el uso de tarjetas de débito para estadounidenses en Cuba, la primera vez que esto ocurrirá desde el deshielo entre ambos países hace casi un año.
El banco Stonegate informó que los estadounidenses podrán usar la tarjeta de débito MasterCard en hoteles, restaurantes y otros negocios de la isla que permitan su uso.
Ya en enero, poco más de un mes después de anunciarse la normalización de relaciones, MasterCard y American Express anunciaron que permitirían usar en Cuba sus tarjetas de crédito emitidas en Estados Unidos.
El uso tarjetas en Cuba formaba parte de la flexibilizaciones del embargo estadounidense que el presidente Barack Obama anunció luego del histórico acercamiento entre Estados Unidos y Cuba, hasta ese momento acérrimos enemigos, el 17 de diciembre de 2014.
“Este es otro paso para aliviar el peso de los viajeros estadounidenses que deben llevar efectivo cuando van a Cuba y otro paso en la normalización de las relaciones comerciales entre ambos países”, señaló el presidente de Stonegate, Dave Seleski.
Antes de adquirir la tarjeta de débito, los estadunidenses deben demostrar que viajarán a Cuba bajo una de las doce categorías permitidas actualmente, que incluyen razones familiares investigaciones profesionales o actividades periodísticas.
El turismo sigue prohibido por el embargo.
Stonegate, un pequeño banco con sede en Pompano Beach, Florida (sureste de EEUU), ha estado a la vanguardia del proceso de acercamiento entre Estados Estados Unidos y Cuba, luego de que fuera el primero en ofrecer una cuenta al consulado cubano en Washington y en firmar un acuerdo para realizar transacciones financieras con la isla de régimen comunista.
Agencies/AFP/InternetPhotos/TheCubanHistory.com
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor.