Cuban Communications Company to implement option to pay for services

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 21 (ACN) The MiTransfer Exchange will extend its scope to the mobile wallet modality and will offer customers the possibility of paying for goods and services where Transfermovil is activated, officials of the Cuban Telecommunications Company (Etecsa) told reporters.

The option will be available in the next version of the Transfermovil platform, which in its August 19, 2022 update had already implemented the Exchange; however, it only offered the possibility of making payments for services and purchases of Etecsa products.

According to Hector Luis Mora Hechavarria, Director of Digital Services of the entity, the extension will make it possible to make payments in stores or businesses with third parties where payment is enabled through the QR code by means of Transfermovil and which at the same time contract this service with Etecsa.

He explained that increasing the reach of the Exchange will benefit the country's unbanked sector, since there are currently 7.8 million mobile lines and 3.9 million users registered with Transfermovil.

In this regard, he recalled that the Exchange is a virtual money account associated with a mobile number that allows rechargeable accounts within the Transfermovil application, regardless of bank cards; therefore, the upcoming extension will allow the youngest users to make use of the benefits and participate in the Caribbean nation's e-commerce without the need to have associated accounts.

Julio Garcia Trapaga, director of Support and Development of Digital Products of Etecsa, explained that the wallet is not related to the mobile balance, will have two types of associated accounts - in CUP and USD - and will start with maximum amounts of 80,000 CUP and 5,000 USD.
On the other hand, it cannot receive funds from third parties through cash deposits in freely convertible currency ("MLC") and will allow the transfer of balances between wallets of the same currency.

An electronic wallet is a service that allows those who use it to manage their finances from a digital device without having to be linked to a banking entity.