Remittances are the most important income for many families. Where sanctions apply, banks and payment services decide whether to bear the risk. They often refuse whole countries or customer groups, even where the individual payment would be allowed.
What is blocked
- Cuba: Western Union stopped transfers on 5 February 2025 after the State Department renewed its list of restricted Cuban companies on 1 February 2025; it includes Orbit, the company handling the payouts1.
- Worldwide: banks must screen names against sanctions lists. Violating US sanctions risks large penalties: in 2014 BNP Paribas paid about 8.9 billion US dollars over business with Sudan, Iran and Cuba2.
What is expressly allowed
- EU: The Blocking Statute 2271/96 prohibits EU companies from complying with the listed US laws on Cuba. On 21 December 2021 the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that the prohibition applies even without an order from a US authority34.
- EU: On 5 January 2022 the European Banking Authority found that unwarranted de-risking harms the EU’s objectives; this means banks refusing whole groups of customers instead of assessing the individual case5.
What still does not arrive
- Cuba: On 21 November 2025 the UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan wrote that de-risking and over-compliance had substantially exacerbated the humanitarian situation6.
- Cuba: About 200 foreign banks and financial institutions have reportedly ended relations with Cuba since 2021, according to information given to Douhan6.
- US: In 2017 two thirds of surveyed US non-profits working abroad had problems with banks; 37 percent reported delayed transfers, 6 percent closed accounts7.
Documented examples
- AustriaIn April 2007, ahead of its sale to a US fund, BAWAG closed about 100 accounts of Cuban citizens. The foreign minister told parliament the bank had broken EU rules89.
- AfghanistanAfter the UN humanitarian exemption of December 2021 banks remained reluctant. Aid groups turned to hawala networks, reportedly charging up to 10 percent per transfer, or carried cash into the country10.
- WorldwideIn the fourth quarter of 2024 sending 200 US dollars through a bank cost 13.40 percent on average, through a money transfer operator 4.98 percent11.
Global average total cost as a percentage of the amount sent, per quarter. UN target for 2030: 3 percent.
| Quarter | Cost |
|---|---|
| Q1 2021 | 6.38% |
| Q2 2021 | 6.30% |
| Q3 2021 | 6.30% |
| Q4 2021 | 6.04% |
| Q1 2022 | 6.09% |
| Q2 2022 | 6.01% |
| Q3 2022 | 6.30% |
| Q4 2022 | 6.24% |
| Q1 2023 | 6.25% |
| Q2 2023 | 6.20% |
| Q3 2023 | 6.18% |
| Q4 2023 | 6.39% |
| Q1 2024 | 6.35% |
| Q2 2024 | 6.65% |
| Q3 2024 | 6.62% |
| Q4 2024 | 6.26% |
Source: World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, Main report and annex, Q4 2024, December 2024. https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/rpw_main_report_and_annex_q424_13.pdf
Sending 200 US dollars to the region, average total cost in percent.
| Region | Cost |
|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 8.16% |
| Europe, Central Asia excl. Russia | 7.12% |
| Middle East and North Africa | 6.10% |
| East Asia and Pacific | 6.01% |
| Latin America and Caribbean | 5.79% |
| South Asia | 4.48% |
Source: World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, Main report and annex, Q4 2024, December 2024. https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/rpw_main_report_and_annex_q424_13.pdf
Worldwide, sending 200 US dollars, average total cost in percent.
| Provider | Cost |
|---|---|
| Banks | 13.40% |
| Post offices | 6.92% |
| Money transfer operators | 4.98% |
| Mobile, under 1% of sample | 1.19% |
Source: World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, Main report and annex, Q4 2024, December 2024. https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/rpw_main_report_and_annex_q424_13.pdf
Counterpoints: why states impose sanctions
- US: Secretary of State Rubio justified the restricted list as denying resources to the branches of the Cuban regime controlled by the military and intelligence services1.
- Banks point to their duties against money laundering and terrorist financing. The European Banking Authority considers de-risking partly legitimate risk management, partly a sign of weak assessment5.
Figures marked “according to information given to” are not the cited body’s own measurements but information presented to it.
This page is information, not legal advice. It reports what authorities, courts, governments and organisations decide and say; the views of the side imposing measures and of the side affected stand side by side. “Helfen statt Blockieren” is non-partisan. Please report errors to info@aciel-martinez-poll.com.
Sources
- Havana Times (after 14ymedio), “Western Union Suspends Money Transfers to Cuba”, 8 Feb 2025. https://havanatimes.org/news/western-union-suspends-money-transfers-to-cuba
- Banque de France, ACPR, “Following the agreement signed between the US authorities and BNP Paribas”, 30 Jun 2014. https://acpr.banque-france.fr/en/press-release/following-agreement-signed-between-us-authorities-and-bnp-paribas
- Council of the EU, Regulation (EC) No 2271/96 of 22.11.1996, OJ L 309 of 29.11.1996, S. 1, 22 Nov 1996. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/1996/2271/oj
- Court of Justice of the EU (Grand Chamber), judgment of 21.12.2021, Bank Melli Iran v Telekom Deutschland, C-124/20, ECLI:EU:C:2021:1035, 21 Dec 2021. https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?num=C-124/20
- European Banking Authority (EBA), EBA/Op/2022/01, “EBA alerts on the detrimental impact of unwarranted de-risking and ineffective management of money laundering and terrorist financing risks”, 5 Jan 2022. https://www.eba.europa.eu/publications-and-media/press-releases/eba-alerts-detrimental-impact-unwarranted-de-risking-and
- OHCHR, Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan, Preliminary findings of the visit to Cuba, end of mission statement, 11 to 21 November 2025, 21 Nov 2025. Many figures there are marked “reportedly”, i.e. based on information presented to her. https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2133521/20251121-eom-stm-cuba-sr-negative-impact-unilateral-en.pdf
- Devex (Sophie Edwards), on the survey by Charity & Security Network, “De-risking is causing significant banking problems for two-thirds of US nonprofits”, 14 Feb 2017. https://www.devex.com/news/derisking-is-causing-significant-banking-problems-for-two-thirds-of-us-nonprofits-89631
- Der Tagesspiegel, “Kubaner? Nein danke”, 21 Apr 2007. https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/kubaner-nein-danke-6850522.html
- Reuters, as reproduced by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, “Austria charges bank after Cuban accounts cancelled”, 27 Apr 2007. https://www.business-humanrights.org/de/neuste-meldungen/austria-charges-bank-after-cuban-accounts-cancelled
- Devex (David Ainsworth), “Sanctions and banks make it a struggle to get money into Afghanistan”, 17 Jan 2022. https://www.devex.com/news/sanctions-and-banks-make-it-a-struggle-to-get-money-into-afghanistan-102448
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, Main report and annex, Q4 2024, December 2024. https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/rpw_main_report_and_annex_q424_13.pdf
All online sources accessed on 3 November 2026.