Between Cyclopes and Banknotes: The Epic of Paying with a Card in Cuba

In Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses took twenty years to return to Ithaca, facing cyclopes, storms, and sorceresses. Today, in Cuba in 2026, many Cubans undertake an equally exhausting daily odyssey: paying with a magnetic card.

There are no mythological monsters, but there is a labyrinth of businesses that reject the card, a shortage of cash that feels like divine punishment, and a pilgrimage of several kilometers to finally find a place where they accept card payment.

Acceptance that, in some cases, only covers part of what you buy. Furthermore, the product in that establishment costs a percentage above the price being quoted. Welcome to the epic of the real economy.

The responses received at each establishment are always the same: «We’ve already received the day’s transfers,» «there’s no connection,» «there’s no electricity,» and others that evade the service that is established by regulation.

The sad part of this matter is when you see the official reports; they speak of mandatory compliance, tax evasion, and other administrative consequences that are violated. And as a result, the people suffer the consequences.

I don’t have an official report on what these merchants declare, but according to the transfers they receive, they are few, because they only make five or seven per day.

It would be good if the National Office of Statistics issued a bulletin reflecting how electronic payments are behaving. If we analyze this data, it should show that these establishments are heading toward bankruptcy, while life demonstrates the opposite.

We must not only attack self-employed workers and MSMEs, the main parties involved. A government measure is also required to convert the money that workers and retirees have in their cards into real money.

It is very sad to work an entire month and not be able to use your salary or pension. Personally, I don’t have a formula to find the solution. I simply leave the ball on the experts’ side.