“Two recharges with a bonus in one month must be very bad money,” says Lázaro Miguel, a 27-year-old who earns his living in Havana by upgrading his mobile operating system and selling mobile phone bonds. So far this year, its work has multiplied as the state telecommunications monopoly Etecsa launched two recharge offers each month from abroad with an additional bonus.
“Normally, a monthly offer was made on significant days or holidays, but now in less than 30 days two have been launched and that’s because they are desperate for new money to come in,” says the young entrepreneur who shares a small table. with another self-employed person dedicated to mobile telephony in Centro Habana, a few steps from Plaza de Carlos III.
“When there is a recharge with bonds from abroad we earn well, but now with monetary unification it is difficult to calculate how much we will really have for ourselves,” he warns. To buy these offers, you need an international card, Visa, MasterCard or another name, one of which allows you to make purchases on payment gateways on the Internet.
“When there is a recharge with bonds from abroad we earn well, but now with monetary unification it is difficult to calculate how much we will really have for ourselves.”
Lázaro Miguel has a brother in Madrid who, together with a friend, designed a simple service. “Offers delivery of pesos remittances to the door of Cuban customers’ homes.” In Spain they collect these remittances in euros and use the money to buy telephone recharges, which Lázaro Miguel resells in pesos on the island. These pesos, less the commission charged by the two brothers and a friend, will be delivered to relatives in Cuba.
The triangulation of remittance-recharge-remittance money is a common business that gained strength on the island after the withdrawal of Western Union, the main financial company in charge of channeling the money sent by emigrants to their families on the island. that company, popular creativity has resorted to cryptocurrencies, bank transfers and the use of telephone recharges as a way to get cash.
According to calculations made by an expert who participated in the negotiations with Etecsa, this company obtained total gross revenues of approximately 260 million dollars in 2015. After deducting expenses (40 million), the monopoly remained with a net profit of 220 million millions. That was five years ago and, according to the same source, the profitability of the state monopoly, which keeps its revenue secret, has increased substantially since then.
The company seems to have discovered a new tab with the management of emigrant remittances. On March 10, it was published in Official Gazette of the Resolution of the Republic 116/2021 of the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC), which paves the way for the transformation of the communications monopoly into a new way of sending remittances to the island.
With the new resolution, individuals and legal entities will be able to interact with their bank accounts on their mobile phones and can make payments on national e-commerce platforms.
In the text of the new legislation it is clear that Etecsa has requested BCC to “previously amend the license granted” to manage its payments and thus “includes among the activities authorized to develop, the activation of a mobile wallet as part of the operation of the Transfermóvil platform”. individuals and legal entities will be able to interact with their bank accounts on their mobile phones and can make payments on national e-commerce platforms.
Although Etecsa did not provide many details about its new service and the legal document does not clarify all the gaps related to the announcement, it seems that the money recharged as a balance from abroad and is reflected in pesos on the mobile line, can be used to pay for basic services and to buy combinations on digital platforms.
It is specified that the income from the mobile wallet will be sourced from the “magnetic cards associated with the bank accounts” on the island and “the balance they associated with their mobile phone service”. The resolution also states that the use of the money will be electronic only.
Around March 8, Women’s Day, the state monopoly launched one of its well-known offers to supplement with bonuses included. Every month, Etecsa promotes for several days the possibility to buy loans from abroad to mobile phone customers on the island, but these options are not available to residents of the island, although there are tricks to access them.
“You pay me in Cuban pesos and I will complete it in dollars,” says a witty informal trader in various ads on ad sites. “For 800 CUP I give you 500 balance + 1 GB bonus + 50 minutes + 50 SMS”, he explains in the text that refers to a WhatsApp account “for more details”.
“Not all dollars are the same, there are more dollars than others”
“Not all dollars are the same, there are more dollars than others,” warns Fonseca, a telecommunications agent who offers his services on one of the busiest streets in Centro Habana, Calle Reina. “People come with their card to MLC (freely convertible currency) Let’s see if you can recharge with a bonus, but those fulas are useless, they have to be the outsiders, the fresh ones “.
With the magnetic cards of Cuban banks, all owned by the state, you cannot buy recharges with vouchers that are sold through digital portals. Even in Etecsa offices these offers are not sold to customers of national bank accounts in foreign currency. “You have to buy them with Visa, Mastercard or other foreign cards,” reiterates an employee of the monopoly office in the city of Guanabo, east of Havana.
The new e-wallet service may not solve this difficulty, as it will initially allow payments in Cuban pesos in the country, but it is a hope for those trying to increase the mobility of virtual money without going through long lines at banks or ATMs. automatic.
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