Within the EU, bank transfers are as free and as simple as local bank transfers. Enter the payee account information and transfer the 1c. If it goes through (and rejection can take up to 11 weeks), your bank is not sanctioning Cuba. Please let us know so we can compile a white list of banks complying with EU regulations. If it is blocked, initiate the bank’s internal complaints process.
For UK bank customers, the first place to seek support on making an international transfer is your own bank, since every bank will have a different process for making transactions. Please check your bank’s website or contact the bank directly.
Avoid bank fees! 1c4Cuba is not here to add to bank profits.
Some UK banks charge fees for some international transactions. However, you may be able to avoid paying a fee by sending the transaction by a ‘Single Euro Payment Area’ (SEPA) transfer. Refer to your own bank for further information on making a SEPA payment.
We welcome as many individual and organisations as possible to join the campaign on the basis of its primary aim, to make the blockade of Cuba unenforceable.
Organisations that want to establish a national branch of 1c4Cuba should email [email protected] with your proposal, and we can arrange to meet or discuss with you how your organisation can be involved.
Be warned! It’s not a simple join-up process, there is a fair bit of preliminary work required. You will need to research your local banking market to identify the blockade triggering transactions for each local bank group as a first step.
The campaign has been launched by European and British organisations, in whose countries the enforcement of US sanctions against Cuba is forbidden by law. Even though the US government is the only one in the world which directly sanctions Cuba, banks worldwide have chosen to extend these sanctions globally, even when transferring between third countries. This is contrary to both international law and European Bank regulations.
Outside Europe and Britain, there may be local laws or trade regulations which you can appeal to in challenging banks to stop complying with US sanctions against Cuba.
The 1c4Cuba campaign is not active outside of Europe, for now, but encourages other territories to follow our lead, where possible.
No. However, we recommend that you get in touch with Cuba solidarity organisations tions in the US to find out how they are challenging the US blockade of Cuba.
As an individual or organisation you can also support the 1c4Cuba campaign by promoting it in your networks, particularly to those outside the United States.
This is a new, and long overdue, campaign, that is breaking exciting new ground by giving people a way to expose and challenge illegal banking practices imposed against Cuba. We have no way of knowing how any particular bank might react to customer behaviour which they deem to be against their internal policies in regard to Cuba.
However, we are aware of one case in which a newly established British bank has decided to close a bank account after it was used to send transactions referencing Cuba. Just as we have challenged the blocking or delaying of such payments, we have also mobilised to challenge this bank in it’s decision to close an account.
If your bank tries to impose any kind of restriction or closure of your bank account following your participation in the campaign, and after you have exhausted their in-house complaints process, we want to hear from you so we can support you to challenge the bank’s behaviour. Please contact us at [email protected].
If you use your bank account for other important activities and judge this is too much of a risk, we recommend setting up a new current account with a different bank to participate in the campaign; it is perfectly normal and legal to hold accounts with multiple banks. Opening a current account is normally quick, free and easy to do.
Please check the ‘News’ sections of this website for news of specific events, and ‘Find your local branch’ to contact or visit the websites of the participating organisations in your country which may be organising their own activities.
The 1c4Cuba campaign will respond to target illegal banking practices in their own territories and protest actions, including pickets placed on individual bank branches, will be held, as appropriate.
Please email [email protected] or your local participating organisation if you have anything to offer the campaign; we are especially looking for those who can translate our resources into other languages.
If you want to financially support 1c4Cuba, we recommend donating to one of the participating organisations in your country. Check ‘Find your local branch’ for a list of organisations.
The bank accounts we recommend you to send transactions to are for organisations which do solidarity work for Cuba. How they use the funds is governed by the policies of those organisations. Look up the named organisations or check ‘Find your local branch’ for a list of organisations and contact them, or visit their websites and social media for information on the work that they do.