Cubans who reside in as many as 72 countries worldwide and send average cash remittances of US$2.8 billion annually can now send funds direct to the Caribbean island using Western Union’s platform.

On Monday, Western Union Company (WU), the global payments services provider, announced it will launch remittance services from across the world into Cuba following U.S regulatory and policy changes that allow Cubans and non-Cubans to send remittances via Western Union to the island.

WU said annually remittances reach 62 per cent of Cuban households, sustain about 90 per cent of the retail market and provide thousands of jobs, the company said in a release on its new direct service on Monday.

For the first time, Cubans and other citizens worldwide will join their U.S. counterparts to send remittances into Cuba using Western Union’s cross-border payments platform.

People from the US have had the opportunity to send money to Cuba since 1999, but just from the US. In a couple of weeks, any citizen of the world will be able to do it too, what means a great opportunity for Cubans with relatives in Caribbean, Latin american, European and Asian countries.

The Company says it expects to activate the service in a phased approach by end of second quarter 2016.

As of December 31, 2015, the Western Union and its Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of over 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and over 100,000 ATMs and kiosks, and included the capability to send money to over a billion accounts the company stated.
“As the first U.S. Company with scale to move money from across the world to Cuba, we welcome the regulatory and policy changes put in place by the U.S. government that allow us to offer these services,” said Odilon Almeida, President of the Americas and European Union.
Remittances can be sent to family members and other Cuban nationals for family expenses and personal support for private economic activity.
“As we have found in other parts of the world, expanding remittances will provide a vital opportunity to improve the standard of living for Cuban people, contribute to savings and eventually investment towards small-businesses,” Almeida was quoted as saying.
The release noted that funds moved by Western Union go directly from the sender to the receiver with no middle intervention.
In 2015, WU said it completed 262 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $82 billion of principal between consumers, and 508 million business payments, it was stated.
In Cuba receivers can pick-up their funds from more than 490 Agent locations across each of Cuba’s 16 provinces and 168 municipalities. This is a significant presence and it is represented by multiple classes of trade – from retail stores to exchange houses,” Western Union said.
The money courier said that the Cuban population outside of Cuba is pegged at 1.4 million as of 2015 and reside across North, South and Central America, the Caribbean, EU and CIS countries.

People from the US have had the opportunity to send money to Cuba since 1999, but just from the US. In a couple of weeks, any citizen of the world will be able to do it too, what means a great opportunity for Cubans with relatives in Caribbean, Latin american, European and Asian countries.
Since 1999, Western Union has built a network of 490 agencies all over the country, so people will be able to send money to every municipality of Cuba, not only to the main cities.