‘Cybersecurity accident’ in Cuba halts money transfers from family, friends abroad

Western Union remittance services to Cuba, used by many Miamians to send money to relatives on the island, have been halted since Jan. 28, a few days before the Cuban government announced a “cybersecurity incident” that affected the country’s “electronic payment systems.”

Miami Herald readers reported they haven’t been able to send money to relatives and friends on the island through Western Union. The company had not disclosed the service disruption until the Herald asked Thursday. Messages on the company’s website and app report technical errors when users try to send money to Cuba.

“Western Union is, unfortunately, experiencing technical difficulties on the processing side (Cuba side) of our operations that have caused a temporary suspension of services between the US and Cuba only,” said Bradley Jones, the company’s spokesperson.

Jones said Western Union “is currently working with Orbit SA, its processing partner on the island, to resume services between the two countries as quickly as possible.”

He said the company has reached out to individual customers whose transactions were affected. “Customers that have not heard from a Western Union representative or with questions can call 1-800-325-6000,” he said.

On Feb. 1st, Mildrey Granadillo, a Cuban vice minister of economy and planning, said on state television that the government was investigating a “cybersecurity incident” linked to a virus coming “from abroad” that has affected electronic systems used to sell gasoline around the island. The official cited the attack as a reason to postpone a highly unpopular price hike that would have increased the price of gas fivefold.

But the halt on the processing of remittances suggests the effects of the cyber attack might been broader than publicly announced.

A representative of Miami-based travel and remittances agency VaCuba also said the agency has not been able to process money transfers to Cuba “because of problems with the Cuban banks.” The person said Cuban officials have said the operations might resume as soon as this week.

VaCuba also has an agreement with Orbit SA to send money to the island.

An Orbit SA employee in Cuba who answered the phone said she was not authorized to provide information about the date the services might resume nor the technical difficulties affecting their service.

“That information you’re asking is the same information Western Union already has,” she said.

Orbit SA, created in February 2022, is the only entity authorized by the Cuban government to process remittances.

In June 2020, the Trump administration sanctioned Fincimex, a company owned by Cuba’s military that handled money transfers from the United States. Later that year, the Trump administration banned U.S. companies from using Fincimex for money transfers, which caused the suspension of services by Western Union and VaCuba.

After a series of negotiations, the Cuban government agreed to create Orbit SA to handle money transfers. Though the entity is not officially tied to the Cuban military, Proyecto Inventario, an independent Cuba news outlet, has reported that Orbit’s office in Miramar, an upscale neighborhood in Havana, is next to a Fincimex office and that former Fincimex staffers work for Orbit.

In November 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department authorized VaCuba to use Orbit SA for remittances. Shortly after, Western Union launched a pilot program to resume money transfers to the island. The service was finally extended to thousands of branches in the United States in March 2023.

Customers in the U.S. using Western Union and VaCuba services can send dollars to Cubans with cards issued by three Cuban banks: Banco Popular de Ahorro, Banco Metropolitano S.A. and Banco de Credito y Comercio.

Initially, Western Union said the money was going to be deposited and paid out to clients in dollars. But that’s not what happened. Instead, clients in Cuba receive the money in a virtual currency known as MLC. And Cuban banks, which do not have enough foreign currency, do not allow bank account holders to access their deposits in dollars.

“Western Union follows the regulations set forth by the Central Bank of Cuba that state cross-border transactions are received in digital MLC,” Jones said. “Customers wishing to receive the remittance in U.S. dollars may visit their bank and request that the remittance be converted to U.S. dollars; however, this is at the discretion and availability of U.S. currency at that particular bank.”

Because people in Cuba cannot get the money from banks in dollars, many Cubans abroad still send money to their relatives using informal channels, usually people known as mulas who travel to the island carrying the money.