From the Soultime Cuba Manual (updated 2012):

Theme: Cuban money, rates, visa cards, traveler cheques & accepted currencies

The currency that you will need is pesos convertibles (CUC), in common language by Cubans or foreigners announced as “kuks”. Some Cubans may still call them dollars but since October 2004 American dollars have been banned from the Cuban economy and you can no longer make any payments in US dollars. In the all- inclusive hotel resorts you may be able to pay with Euros, but in all the other places you have to pay in cash with pesos convertibles (CUC). Cubans still often use the terms peso and dollar interchangeably. Other terms for a CUC include divisa, chavito, verde, guano, and fula. Cash is known as efectivo.

Since recent (2011) you have to pay only 3,25 % commission every time you obtain cash by credit card (it was 11% before 2011 !). By changing cash you pay a similar commission as a standard fee, but as this is hidden in the currency exchange rates nobody on Cuba knows exactly this commission rate.

You can acquire pesos convertibles (CUC) at the airport by i) changing cash, ii) with your credit card at the ground floor offices on your arrival, or in the departure area on the first floor. They accept Canadian Dollars (CAD), Swiss Francs (CHF), Mexican Pesos (MXN), Japanese Yen (JPY), British Pound Sterling (GBP), Euro (EUR) along with some other currencies. There's also an ATM on the ground floor but in general it's better not to rely on the presence of ATM's in Cuba, there are only a few and they may be broken or fail during an transaction.

Traveler's cheques -not issued in the USA- can be used as well, but are for Cuba maybe not the best method, as at a small bank agency you never know if they are accepted. Besides, Cuba is that safe that you don't need the security that traveler's cheques may give you.

It is not recommended to bring cash US dollars with you for your holiday, as the commission rate is around 18-20 %.

Credit Cards: MasterCard & Visa, are accepted by Cuban banks.

No USA credit cards are accepted. Visa cards issued in the USA will not be accepted !

American Express credit cards, no matter where issued, are not accepted !

Advice: it is advised to bring and plenty of cash and 2 different credit cards (in case one is not accepted) to get the cash you will need and to be sure that whatever happens you will be not without financial means. You can not purchase goods or services by paying with credit card on Cuba so far.

The car insurance of your rental car & the deposit can be paid by credit card (see: Best Rental Car rates in CUC).

Only Visa & MasterCard Traveler’s cheques are accepted by Cadeca banks as long as they are not issued in the USA.

Changing back pesos convertibles to Euros, GBP or US Dollars is no problem as long as they have the correct amount of bills for you. You might receive a rest amount in CUC or in another currency.

For changing back CUC to US dollars the rate is close to 1 to 1, so for changing back in this way no high commission rates are calculated as is the case for obtaining CUC with US dollars. The Cuban Cadeca change offices (casas de cambio) seem to stimulate the exchange of CUC for USD when leaving the country.

Euros might be in use in the following all inclusive hotel resorts: Varadero; the Jardines del Rey Archipelago; Holguín; Santa Lucía Beach, in Camagüey; Covarrubias Beach, in Las Tunas; and Cayo Largo del Sur.

Besides all this, there are still pesos cubanos or moneda nacional in use. This is the currency of the nacional Cuban economy. You may only need this money when you wish to join a Cuban bus, a ferry or wish to make use of another local service, but you can also pay this kind of services with small coins CUC. You can easily obtain pesos cubanos at a Cadeca office or other Cuban bank. The official rate is around 25-27 pesos cubanos for one peso convertible.

In case you would like to buy eg a Cuban pizza on the street or something in a Cuban shop based on moneda nacional for Cubans, you can pay with small coins of CUC. You will receive most likely your change in moneda nacional or in small coins of CUC. It is still not officially allowed for tourists to buy in a Cuban shop of the state (called a bodega) but our experience is that as a kind of exception it works for souvenir articles, hats and maybe even clothes.

It is said that both the CUC and moneda nacional are going to disappear and that one new monetary value will come in place, however this rumour is already circulating since 2008 and so far nothing has changed..

Small coins & small bank notes are essential on Cuba !

When you receive CUC money you may ask for some big bank notes, but you will need mostly small notes on Cuba for every kind of transaction. Notes of 50 or 100 are often not accepted by small shops or services as there is no change. Do take care you have always small notes of 1, 3, 5, and 10 with you. Notes of 20 also still do work well.

Further is it good to have always coins of 25, 50 centavos and 1 CUC with you, for tipping or small purchases.

How & where to get CUC cash money on Cuba ?

See your guidebooks. On the international airport of Havana are several bank counters to obtain or change CUC: two next to each other in the arriving hall and two on the first floor for checking in for departure flights, located before customs (after customs is one small office, but this one is not always open). Here you can change cash money (eg cash Euros, GBP, Swiss Francs etc; cash USD is not recommended for the high transaction commission !), use traveler cheques (not issued in the USA) of Visa or MasterCard, or your credit card Visa or MasterCard (not issued in the USA).

There is also an ATM downfloor in the arrival hall, but in general for Cuba it is better not to rely on the ATM¨s and you can better decide to leave your normal / debit bankcard at home.

In every place the best is to go to a change office of Cadeca. Their opening hours are more extended then a usual bank and they are especially for tourists.