Cuba Guide
Money
Emergency cash
For any kind of money problems, most people are directed to Asistur ( 
www.asistur.cu ), set up specifically to provide assistance to tourists with financial difficulties, as well as offering advice on a number of other matters, legal and otherwise. Asistur can arrange to have money sent to you from abroad as well as providing loans or cash advances. There are branches in a few of the big cities and resorts. The firm to contact if you have problems with your credit or debit cards is FINCIMEX, which has offices in at least ten Cuban cities and can provide records of recent card transactions and shed light on problems such as a credit card being declined in a shop.
One of the most efficient ways of getting hold of emergency cash is to have money from your home bank account or that of a friend or family member sent by wire transfer to a bank in Cuba, but note that only branches of the Banco Financiero Internacional, and the Banco Internacional de Comercio in Havana, can handle money transfers from abroad. The person sending you the money will need to know your address in Cuba, whether at a hotel or in a casa particular, and your passport number. Be aware that the bank from which the money is sent will charge a hefty commission fee. The Havana International Bank in London, the National Australia Bank in Melbourne and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Toronto all have links with the Banco Internacional de Comercio and may prove to be better prepared than others for this kind of transaction. Money transfers can also be made through Western Union and Transcard, both represented in Cuba.