Canadians with MasterCards from credit unions are out of luck when it comes to trying to use their plastic in Cuba. MasterCards issued by the Bank of Montreal can still be used however.
The problem is fallout after Bank of America Corp. acquired the credit card business of CUETS, the largest MasterCard credit card issuer in Canada, last October.
The U.S. has had a trade embargo in place with Cuba since shortly after Fidel Castro came to power nearly 50 years ago.
Betty Riess, a spokesperson for North Carolina-based Bank of America, said its MBNA Canada subsidiary which bought the credit card business isn't able to process transactions in Canada so they have to do so in the U.S.
"That puts us under U.S. law to disallow transactions from sanctioned countries, which would include Cuba," she said.
Randa Stewart, vice-president of marketing and brand management at Assiniboine Credit Union, said she advising its Cuba-bound members to use the other credit cards in their wallets, if they've got them, or travellers' cheques.
"We've let CUETS know we're not happy about this. The worrisome part is people traveling to Cuba who aren't aware of this change and they're caught off guard," she said.
Stewart said ACU is doing its best to inform members about the potential problem, including posting a message on its website.
The MasterCards are also no longer accepted in North Korea, as well as Iran, Myanmar (Burma) and Sudan.
Ron Monet, director of corporate communcations for BMO Financial Group, the only one of the Big Five banks to offer MasterCards, said its plastic is accepted in Cuba.
"It's our card, we're the issuer and we process the transactions in Canada," he said.
geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca
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