May 2016 Financial News

GraceKennedy Money Services to add Cuba service in eight markets

May 06, 2016

Cubans and other connected individuals living in eight markets across the Caribbean will be able to send money directly to the island of Cuba via the Western Union (WU)/Grace Kennedy partnership, starting on a phased basis as of May 2.

GraceKennedy Money Services (GKMS), which operates in 11 countries regionally under the partnership, said Monday that it will open the corridor to Cuba in eight of these markets: Trinidad and Tobago, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, and Jamaica.

The new service is the result of new regulatory and policy changes in the US which, for the first time, make it possible for Cubans and others to send remittances into Cuba within minutes using Western Union’s platform.

People from the US have had the opportunity to send money to Cuba since 1999, but only from the US. Now, any citizen of the world will be able to do it too, including relatives living 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, Western Union told the Jamaica Observer earlier.

While neither partner has commented on the revenue impact, the move is expected to swell remittances, which globally included moving US$82 billion of principal between consumers and more than 508 million business payments.

Grace Burnett, CEO of the GraceKennedy Financial Group, noted at the service launch in Kingston that the Cuban population outside of Cuba is conservatively estimated at 1.4 million as of 2015. They reside across North, South and Central America, the Caribbean, the European Union and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Nearly 96 per cent, she stated, are concentrated in five countries, including US, Spain, Italy, Mexico and Canada. However, Cubans reside in as many as 72 countries.

Cash remittances to Cuba in 2013 reached US$2.8 billion, with 90 per cent originating from the US. Remittances reach 62 per cent of Cuban households, sustaining about 90 per cent of the retail market and providing thousands of jobs.

WU is rolling out this service with a phased activation to several other countries that will extend through the second quarter 2016.

From May 2, Cubans and other senders from Jamaica may send money to Cuba for daily living/family care, student support, health care, and support for private economic activities.

GKMS said customers who wish to send money from Jamaica to Cuba will be asked a few additional questions before they complete the transactions. In Cuba, receivers can pick up their funds in local currency, Cuban Convertible Pesos. The receiver in Cuba will need to have a valid Cuban ID to collect the funds.

Burnett said the phased roll-out from additional countries will continue throughout the year.

Source:
BY AVIA COLLINDER
collindera@jamaicaobserver.com
Business reporter
Jamaica Observer
Friday May 6, 2016

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/GraceKennedy-Money-Services-to-add-Cuba-service-in-eight-markets_59896