Cuba suspends Visa and Mastercard transactions from 6 June after foreign bank bows to US sanctions

The suspension

Cuba's central bank announced on Wednesday that all transactions using Visa and Mastercard will be suspended starting 6 June. The move follows a decision by an unnamed foreign bank to end its relationship with Fincimex S.A., the financial arm of the military-run conglomerate GAESA. The foreign bank informed Cuban authorities on 2 June that continuing the contract would be "illegal and impossible" once the latest US measures take effect.

As a result of this decision, Cuba is unable to receive income from the sale of goods and services through internationally recognized cards such as VISA and MASTERCARD.

The central bank said foreign-currency payments will now be possible only in cash, through domestic prepaid cards (Clásica and Tropical), and via Russia's Mir and China's UnionPay cards. Neither Visa nor Mastercard responded to requests for comment.

The US executive order

President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14404 on 1 May, sharply expanding sanctions on commerce with Cuba. The order targets foreign companies that do business with GAESA, a conglomerate linked to the Cuban armed forces that controls key sectors including tourism, remittances, logistics and financial transactions. Washington accuses GAESA of secretly hoarding profits for the benefit of the military and the Cuban elite. Havana rejects the allegations, calling them "state slander" and insisting GAESA has openly funded housing, power plants, water projects, clinics and schools.

GAESA is not an opaque structure or a parallel structure to the Cuban state, but an articulated response of proven effectiveness against the economic blockade.

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) set 5 June as the deadline for foreign firms to wind down operations with GAESA or face sanctions themselves, including restricted access to the international financial system and asset freezes.

Corporate exodus

Trump's executive order has triggered a broad withdrawal of foreign businesses from Cuba in recent weeks. Spanish hotel group Meliá announced it was ceasing operations "with immediate effect" in 15 of its 34 hotels on the island. Iberostar, also Spanish, pulled out of 12 of its 18 Cuban properties. Indonesian chain Archipelago International and Canada's Blue Diamond are also leaving. Canadian mining firm Sherritt had already withdrawn.

Shipping lines CMA CGM of France and Hapag-Lloyd of Germany said in mid-May they were temporarily halting cargo deliveries to Cuba. A Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson said the company was still assessing the consequences of the recently imposed sanctions.

The impact of the departure of all these international companies on the Cuban economy is devastating in the short and medium term.

Torralbas, a Cuban economist, said the exodus makes 2026 "the worst year in Cuba's economic history of the last 70 years."

Broader pressure campaign

The Trump administration has pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" on Cuba since January, including an oil embargo. Washington describes the communist-run island, located 150 kilometres off the Florida coast, as an "extraordinary threat" to US national security. The sanctions build on a trade embargo in place since 1962 and are aimed at forcing political and economic reforms in Havana. Cuba's government calls the measures an "asphyxiation strategy against the Cuban people" and says the 1 May order represents the "most intense and dangerous escalation" in recent bilateral history.

The credit card suspension is the latest blow to an economy already grappling with a severe energy and economic crisis, and to a tourism industry the government considers one of its most important sources of foreign currency.