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The government of Cuba has said it will open a currency exchange window to trade Japanese yen, Canadian, European, and Latin American currencies for the convertible peso, the local currency the government is using to replace the US dollar. The special exchange office will open in Havana by the end of this month. The convertible peso, which has no value on international markets, recently became the only currency accepted for transactions in communist-ruled Cuba, after more than a decade in which the US currency was used in virtually all transactions involving imported goods. Expatriate Cubans in the US send more than $800 million annually to relatives on the island. But the government, on the heels of tightened US sanctions, has imposed a 10% tax on money sent into Cuba in US dollars. So most Cubans have traded in greenbacks for convertible pesos, and many have opened US-dollar denominated savings accounts; if they receive transfers from abroad into these accounts they will not be charged the 10% tax. Cubans can still keep a limited amount of dollars at home, as well as hold US dollar bank accounts; and…

The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam - Vietcombank - has launched two credit cards, the Photocard and the Unembossed MasterCard. The Photocard allows its customers to make payments both in Vietnamese dongs and US dollars free of exchange fees. Meanwhile, the Unembossed MasterCard has a high security rating, with all of its transactions being electronically licensed. Customers using un-embossed MasterCards can draw cash and make payments at automated MasterCard sites around the world and Vietnam. Vietcombank is Vietnam's leading issuer of credit cards, with over 450,000 out of more than 500,000 personal accounts. Vietcombank is currently authorized to issue both international payments and credit cards like the Mastercard, the Visa, and JCB Cards. It also issues domestic payment cards like Connect 24 and now has more than 5,000 units which recognize its cards and has installed over 340 automatic teller machines (ATMs) around the country.

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