| 18/03/2021 – 21:10 (GMT-4)
The Central Bank of Cuba alerted its customers on Thursday about the sending of Transfers between freely convertible currency cards (MLC), to the complaint of several users who lost money in unsolicited “operations”.
A message from this financial institution on Twitter warns Cubans that when making transfers between cards in freely convertible currency, either by ATM, mobile transfer or other electronic channel, they must verify that destination card start “only” with 9225 XXXX XXXX XXXX.
He also points out that if the operation is done differently – for example, in an MLC book that starts 9226– It is better to cancel it, because the money could be sent on a card in Cuban pesos (CUP), where the amount is automatically converted into 1×24 instead.
“Dear customer: To send transfers between cards in MLC either through ATM, mobile transfer or other electronic channel, you must keep in mind that when you capture the destination card number, it must start with 9225 XXXX XXXX XXXX. Otherwise, we suggest that you do not continue the operation, as the transfer can be sent on a card to the CUP, converting the amount into this currency at the 1 x 24 “exchange rate, the statement said..
Several netizens reacted to the announcement outraged because they were the victims of these problems, enduring the consequent loss of money in the “unsolicited change” of the dollar into Cuban pesos through a wrong operation.
In this regard, they asked the bank to implement a automated authorization engine based on rules that stop possible “suspicious” operations based on institutional and popular knowledge; and activate based on these “alert and confirmation mechanisms”.
“I am self-employed, the ITH importer needs a 9226 (MLC) card, I have to do it in addition to the one I already had 9225 and now he tells me that if I transfer MLC to other than 9225, it is in other words at my own risk and responsibility? Can you explain this to me? “He asked for a client.
“This has already happened to me, I transferred between books to MLC and it became CUP, which is a scam: It’s not the two MLC books, why did you convert it to CUP, why didn’t you leave it in MLC? Another said.
Similarly, one user pointed out the impossibility of transferring cards in the national currency to those in the MLC: “If MLC cards take USD as a reference to convert any currency and make deposits in it, why can’t I use the CUP card and do you transfer money to an MLC account at a rate of 24 CUP for each MLC? And why on the contrary is it possible? he asked.
“They could make some kind of notification or eliminate this option. No one will sell their dollars at 24 pesos, so it would be good if they eliminated that option to avoid losses that could be catastrophic,” he said. another Cuban.
As part of its “command task” monetary unification implemented by the Cuban government to lift its poor economy, the bank has activated the option of cards in MLC for purchase in stores where only foreign currencies are allowed.
In the midst of the deep supply crisis on the island, you are stores are the only ones stored in moderationAs a result, thousands of Cubans with relatives abroad have requested that the books in question be purchased.
However, the transactions are difficult and in them they are exposed to the loss of dollars due to transport errors whose solution has not been considered by the financial institutions of the island, which so far, as indicated in the notification on Twitter , is not accountable to citizens for errors in operations and their losses.