Why a Cuban business can no longer pay a foreign supplier through U.S. rails — and what works instead
On September 30, 2026 OFAC withdrew 31 CFR §515.584(h)(2). A U.S. bank or payment platform may no longer process a payment from a Cuban enterprise's funds to a supplier outside the United States. The route that remains — buying from a U.S. manufacturer or distributor as a §515.533 export, consolidated in Florida — rests in part on QvaPay's legal reading, pending with OFAC.
Who this is for: Cuban MIPYMEs and the foreign suppliers that sold to them through Panama, Mexico or Hong Kong
Two parts of this route are QvaPay's legal reading, submitted to OFAC (Case CU-2025-1426925-1) and not yet confirmed: (1) that a foreign-made item sold from a U.S. distributor’s U.S. inventory is an export “from the United States” under §515.533, and (2) that a Cuban enterprise's payment from a balance held at a U.S. payment platform is “ordinarily incident” to that export. Do not rely on this page as authorization; have your own counsel confirm it.
Until September 30, 2026 a Cuban MIPYME could, through a U.S. payment platform, pay a supplier in China or Panama for goods shipped to Mariel. The authority was §515.584(h)(2); OFAC withdrew it, and withdrew the U-turn license at §515.584(d) with it, so a dollar wire that begins and ends outside the United States with a Cuban interest is now rejected by U.S. banks. No general license replaces it. The outbound lane that survives is narrower and cleaner: the MIPYME pays a U.S. exporter for goods that leave the United States under a Commerce authorization — whatever the goods' origin.
The route in two legs: goods and money
Two legs, and the money leg is the one that broke: the dollar wire with a Cuban interest is rejected at the U.S. correspondent, and the third-country bank is exposed under EO 14404.
The MIPYME pays a U.S. manufacturer or distributor for an authorized export. U.S.-made goods first; allied brands only from stock the distributor already holds in the United States. No foreign factory's sale is routed through Florida.
That a payment from a QvaPay balance is ordinarily incident to a §515.533 export is QvaPay's legal reading, put to OFAC (request CU-2025-1426925-1); it is not an OFAC confirmation.
Is it allowed? The legal authority
- Payer
- A Cuban MIPYME (independent entrepreneur, §515.340) — screened, with documented independent status and a commercial invoice; not a prohibited official or Party member (§515.337 / §515.338).
- Payee
- A non-U.S. supplier (or its freight forwarder) of foreign-made goods or non-U.S. services — not payable through the rail since September 30, 2026. Before the rule: comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions and SDN parties failed screening, and the goods shipped to Cuba. Screen the exporter and any correspondent bank against SDN, the Cuba Restricted List, and E.O. 14404 — which blocks designated persons operating in named sectors.
Prohibited — the cited authority, §515.584(h)(2), was withdrawn on September 30, 2026 and no general license replaces it. The only outbound lane left is goods exported from the United States under a Commerce authorization — sold by a U.S. manufacturer or distributor from the United States — or EAR-subject reexports (§515.533; see the exports card), and CACR-licensed U.S. services. This card is kept for the record; the flow is not processed.
Step by step
- 1Stop: do not instruct a payment from a Cuban enterprise account to a supplier outside the United States, and do not send QUSD to a supplier's account abroad — QvaPay rejects it.
- 2Buy from a U.S. seller instead: a U.S. manufacturer, or a U.S. distributor selling from its own U.S. inventory. U.S.-made goods first; allied brands only from stock already in the United States.
- 3The U.S. seller classifies the goods and holds the Commerce authorization (SCP, AGR or a licence); QvaPort (in formation) will consolidate the order in Florida.
- 4You buy from the U.S. exporter on its own invoice and pay it through QvaPay from your enterprise account — this is a §515.533 export payment, not a foreign-supplier payment.
- 5The exporter files the EEI and ships Port Everglades → Mariel; you import in your own name with MINCEX authorization, or through a non-sanctioned importer as consignee only.
See how QvaPay does itP2P leg originates in Cuba
- Not processed since 30 September 2026; before then the wire ran U.S. bank → screened correspondent → supplier's bank, with no Cuban bank in it.
- Comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions and SDN parties fail screening and are not paid.
- QvaPay processes the money leg only; the goods are the MIPYME's and its exporter's, evidenced by invoice and bill of lading.
The CUP/MLC side of a peer trade is settled between the two peers outside QvaPay — in cash or through the peer's own Cuban bank account. QvaPay does not hold, move, see or certify that leg; it records only the QUSD side. Peers trade their own funds, declare their activity, are limited in volume against it and are reviewed when they exceed it; a peer located in the United States may not trade on the market. Crypto funding is accepted only in USDC from screened wallet addresses; inflows from unhosted wallets receive source-of-funds review, and the same $3,000 recordkeeping applies.
Screened: Heaviest screen on the site: exporter, forwarder and correspondent bank all checked against SDN, the Cuba Restricted List, E.O. 14404 designations and the 50 Percent Rule; the outbound wire carried the Cuban buyer's name, address and account identifier as transmittor and the exporter as recipient, as 31 CFR 1010.410(f) requires.
Prohibited since 30 September 2026 for non-U.S. goods and services — the §515.584(h)(2) license this flow rested on was withdrawn (FR Doc. 2026-19973) and the rail no longer processes it; only goods exported from the United States under a Commerce authorization (sold by a U.S. manufacturer or distributor from the United States) remain payable under §515.533. Shown for the record. QvaPay does not process withdrawals from an enterprise balance to any foreign bank account — the enterprise's own or an owner's — where the purpose is to pay a non-U.S. supplier; such requests are refused and the attempt is logged. QvaPay is never the exporter of record.
Describes the example rail's design; not a determination that any transfer is authorized. The P2P leg, explained →
- ✓Nothing — this payment is not processed. For the alternative route, see the documents in the export and Florida FTZ guides.
- ✕Pay a non-U.S. supplier from a Cuban enterprise balance, in dollars or in QUSD, directly or through a third-country bank.
- ✕Withdraw the enterprise balance to a foreign bank account — the enterprise's own, an owner's or a relative's — to pay the supplier from there. QvaPay does not process it; it is the same payment by another route (§515.201(c)).
- ✕Use a U.S. shell as a conduit — an LLC with no staff, no margin and a standing instruction to wire to the factory is, in OFAC's eyes, an indirect payment from Cuba to the foreign supplier.
- ✕Route the wire through a Panamanian or Hong Kong bank — with the U-turn license at §515.584(d) withdrawn, its U.S. correspondent may now only reject it (§515.201; OFAC FAQ 1272), and the bank risks EO 14404 exposure.
- ✕Try to route around these rules — split payments, use a conduit, pay through an unidentified third party. Such attempts are refused and may be reported as the Bank Secrecy Act requires (31 CFR §1022.320).
Ferretería Vento restocks from Guangzhoucomposite illustration
Ferretería Vento orders $16,800 of plumbing fittings, PVC and hand tools from a Guangzhou manufacturer, shipped through a forwarder in Colón, Panama. The goods never touch the United States, so there is no BIS layer here at all.
The authority this file cited was §515.584(h)(2): a U.S. banking institution as defined at §515.314 could maintain an account solely in the name of an independent private-sector entrepreneur for transactions authorized by or exempt from Part 515, with §515.421 covering payments ordinarily incident to that activity. OFAC withdrew that license effective 30 September 2026 (FR Doc. 2026-19973; FAQ 1273). Where the goods are U.S.-origin or subject to the EAR and BIS-authorized, §515.533 with §515.421 carries the payment; for foreign-made goods outside the EAR, as here, the payment is prohibited since 30 September 2026; QvaPay suspended it that day and does not process it. The narrative is kept only as a record of how the flow ran before the rule.
Screening is heavier on this flow than on any other. The supplier and the freight forwarder were both checked, and so was the correspondent bank in the payment path — against the SDN list, the Cuba Restricted List, the persons designated under Executive Order 14404 for operating in a named sector, and the OFAC 50 Percent Rule.
One point the file states plainly. QvaPay processes the money leg only. The goods shipping into Cuba are what make this a Cuba transaction at all, and that destination is assumed from the licensed MIPYME and evidenced by the commercial invoice and the bill of lading on file. It is not something QvaPay ships, routes or controls.
Odalys and Yandy are identified as beneficial owners at 70 and 30 percent. The balance was funded by Havana peers, Yusimí Cárdenas among them.
No Cuban bank and no regime payment processor. The payment ran from a U.S.-held account to an exporter in a permitted country through a screened correspondent — no Cuban financial institution was in the path, and no foreign funds were deposited into one.
- KYC/KYB on the MIPYME
- Both beneficial owners identified and screened at 70 and 30 percent
- §515.340 independent-status documentation
- Supplier and freight forwarder screened
- Correspondent bank screened
- SDN and Cuba Restricted List
- E.O. 14404 screen — persons designated for operating in a named sector
- OFAC 50 Percent Rule
- Commercial invoice and bill of lading retained as the evidence of destination
- Funding peers verified account holders, screened, with volume limits
Composite illustration based on real QvaPay transaction patterns. Names, amounts and identifying details have been changed. Not a determination that any transaction is authorized.
Common questions
Is this QvaPay's policy or the law?+
The law. FR Doc. 2026-19973 removed §515.584(h)(2) and (d); OFAC FAQs 1272 and 1273 explain the effect. QvaPay's compliance program applies it.
What about services from a non-U.S. provider?+
Same answer — a U.S. platform cannot process it. What remains payable through U.S. rails is specific: goods exported from the United States or reexported under a Commerce authorization (§515.533), the internet-based services listed in §515.578(a), and telecommunications services under §515.542 — not U.S. services generally.
Open QvaPay and follow the steps above. If you are a business, an exporter or an organization, write to us and we onboard you case by case.
QvaPay, Inc. is a FinCEN-registered money services business (MSB No. 31000329382692) providing payment services; it is not a bank. A QUSD balance is a payment obligation of QvaPay, Inc., held in the United States — not a bank deposit and not FDIC-insured. QvaPay forwards remittances under 31 CFR §515.572(a)(3) and processes authorized payments as transactions ordinarily incident under §515.421 (OFAC FAQ 756); the standing of balances held for persons in Cuba is among the questions put to OFAC in QvaPay's pending request for interpretive guidance (Case CU-2025-1426925-1).
This guide is general information, not legal advice and not a determination that any transaction is authorized. Rules change; the update date is above. Keep your own records for ten years (31 CFR §501.601).