CAMAGÜEY.- The people in Camagüey are coming to several branches of the Credit and Commerce Banks (Bandec) and the Public Savings Banks (BPA) to open accounts in dollars with backing in freely convertible currency. This is a part of the latest measures approved by the Council of Ministers that seek to facilitate the imports for natural people and prevent cash from flowing into other countries, as it has happened in the last few years.
The paperwork can be filled in every bank, both Bandec and BPA, and the first cards will be delivered as of next week. The source of income of these accounts are remittances, transfers and cash deposits.
Isabel Delgado Cutiño, chief of the department of Personal Banking in Bandec Camaüey, explained to Adelante Digital that the USD accounts, associated to the product magnetic card, can be used in two ways: individually, only by the holder, or indistinctly, by more than one holder.
“These accounts do not require a minimum balance to be opened and do not calculate or apply interests. At the moment of opening the accounts, you can also define the limit of operations and amounts to proceed in a day, which constitutes a security mechanism for the client in case of loosing the card, and these limits can be changed at any time”, clarified.
The cash deposits in American dollars suffer a 10% tax, as laid in the Resolution No. 30 from October 23, 2004. Nevertheless, the tax only appliesto cash deposits. The transfer of American dollars, that are wired electronically, do not suffer the taxes.
The magnetic cards given to the holders can be used in the selected stores for commerce and the Foreign Trade companies for the solicited imports. They can also be used for the other available services provided by the issuing bank in the form of electronic payment, such as paying for utilities, buying in the Point-of-Sale Terminals (POS), in the rest of the commercial stores network or in the ATM's for extracting cash, among others.
Its use in other services available today is not restricted, although it will reduce the balance in the accounts and, therefore, the possibility of buying in the commerces selected for operating in USD.
A feature of the service provided by Bandec is that the people already operating with magnetic cards in the Cuban currencies used by this entity, can access the website www.kiosco.cu through the Multibanca, as well as the latest update of the app Transfermóvil, to open an account in USD without going to the branches.
We will count with 77 retail commercial establishments throughout the country. 13 units are scheduled for a first stage, eight of them for the commerce of electronic products and household appliances, and five for the sale of car supplies. There will be 12 establishments in the capital and one in Santiago de Cuba. In a second stage, the network will be extended to the rest of the provinces.
- Translated by Elianna Díaz Mendieta