14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, September 12, 2026 – The Cuban Government’s experiment to have private businesses deliver in cash the pensions that banks are unable to pay has begun to spread through Sancti Spíritus, although its reach is minimal for now. Eight self-employed workers and two small and medium-sized private businesses are participating in the program, and together they serve fewer than 100 retirees, compared with the approximately 27,000 registered by the Popular Savings Bank (BPA) in the province.
But accessing the alternative is not as simple as the official press suggests. A resident of the outskirts of Sancti Spíritus, whose identity 14ymedio is withholding for privacy reasons, says that he tried to enroll an elderly relative and that those interested had to register beforehand and meet certain requirements.
In addition to being retirees, he explains, priority was given to people over 65 who had difficulty going to the bank and did not have someone who could handle the transaction for them. After registering them, “they would evaluate who qualified and who did not.”
Many private businesses complain precisely about having abundant balances in their bank accounts but little cash available to operate
“It is still a very small number,” Yeney María Ceballos Hernández, head of the Personal Banking Department of the Provincial Directorate of the BPA, also acknowledged to Escambray this Saturday. The official newspaper presents the initiative under the touching title Hands Extended in Solidarity and says that the formula is intended to reduce the long lines at bank branches and make it easier for elderly people to access their money.
In practice, the mechanism turns stores, small and medium-sized private businesses, and other economic actors into a kind of bank teller window. The business gives the pensioner cash from its own revenues and subsequently receives the amount in its account.
The mechanism also has an additional paradox. Many private businesses complain precisely about having abundant balances in their bank accounts but little cash available to operate. Banknotes are especially necessary for them to purchase foreign currency, an operation that many small and medium-sized private businesses and self-employed workers continue to carry out on the informal market in order to import goods, acquire supplies, and pay suppliers. In that context, handing over cash to retirees means giving up one of the resources most coveted by the private sector itself, although in exchange the bank reimburses them for the amount by transfer.
“We pay the money in cash from our revenues and Bandec reimburses us by transfer”
The state-owned Security and Protection Company (Esprot) has also joined the system and, since August, has been paying the pensions of dozens of other beneficiaries selected based on their proximity to the entity and according to criteria established by authorities of the popular council and constituency delegates. “We pay the money in cash from our revenues and Bandec reimburses us by transfer,” an executive of the company explained to Escambray.
The trial has not always managed to eliminate the very problem it is intended to solve. According to testimony gathered by this newspaper, there were days when some beneficiaries ultimately had to go to the bank because there was not enough cash at the alternative payment point to pay them.
The measure is part of the 176 economic and social transformations announced by the Government in June. Among them, it was established that state and private economic actors would participate, as part of their so-called “social responsibility,” in the payment of pensions through agreements with banks. Manuel Marrero assured at the time that participation would not be mandatory, although he asked that all economic actors be “made aware” of the need to join.
“When he heard that, he saw the heavens open”
>Cuban legislation had already laid the groundwork. Decree-Law 100 on the Payment System, published in January, recognizes the figure of the “non-bank correspondent,” a natural or legal person authorized to provide basic services on behalf of a bank, including dispensing cash through debit cards.
To attract establishments, the Central Bank offers a bonus of 0.25% of the amount dispensed, plus one peso for each reconciled transaction, priority for withdrawing cash, and preferential treatment in access to the foreign-exchange market. As of this week, there were 544 establishments registered throughout the country.
The source’s relative believed that he would finally be able to collect his pension near his home, without having to travel to the bank or endure long lines. “When he heard that, he saw the heavens open,” he says. But the quota was already closed, and he was left out.
Translated by Regina Anavy
______________________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.