Bank Fees Ecuador

They charge for "alerts". That is, for the incredible luxurious privilege of receiving SMS and email messages whenever there's movement in your account. That's on savings accounts. On checking accounts they do charge a monthly maintenance fee, but checking accounts are not needed at all in Ecuador unless you really love to sign old-fashioned cheques.

Additionally, expect to pay around $40-50 every time you receive a wire from the US (Just $10 if the wire comes from Google). $0.25 every time you use your debit card to buy gas (at least with Banco Guayaquil) and a few cents every time you make transfers, regardless of whether you're the sender or the receiver. Also, a "commission" every time you use the bank to pay your bills.

Also, I've had several identity theft problems with local banks (the worst one is Banco Pichincha. The boss of the La Rotonda agency flat out told me there were criminals inside the bank when I had an identity theft problem. Another one to watch out for is Banco Solidario. They approved a credit for around $2,000 for a guy with a fake cédula with my info), and in general they're more difficult to work with than you might be used to.

I wonder, why on Earth would you want to open a bank account in Ecuador when you could just find a US bank that doesn't charge foreign transactions fees and be done with it? You could also use the Wise debit card.

Just incredible. Your response is very much appreciated.

Our thinking behind getting a bank account here is because we are Canadian and if storing a large amount of funds for a one-time transfer into a bank, we could then withdraw without concern of conversion rates plus withdrawal fees every time.

We're looking into rental properties, which is another reason. I'm also utilizing mule services to bring deliveries from Canada and my PayPal will no longer work due to having an Ecuadorian phone number. With the help of a friend, it of course still charges high fees.

I am looking for the absolute best option. Any other recommendations apart from what you mentioned?

Bank recommendation: The first time I had an identity theft problem with Banco Pichincha I went to the Superintendencia de Bancos y Seguros to file a formal complaint. I asked the lady which bank was the one people complained the least about. She said it was Banco Bolivariano. I can confirm Banco Bolivariano indeed takes security seriously. So seriously, sometimes it's really hard even for me to access my bank account! Oh, and they're the ones that charged me $50 to receive a wire transfer from the US. Banco Guayaquil, on the other hand, charges me $40 to receive wires (They both say they only charge $10, so I guess the extra charge comes from intermediary banks). I still keep my Banco Guayaquil account, despite there being lots of complaints about them, because it's just waaaay too convenient for me: They have offices in pretty much any nearby mall, and these offices are not too full of people.

Another tip is: By all means, get a Wise "multi-currency" account. They used to be called "TransferWise" for good reason. And do get their debit card. You might save money in international transfers. Even the guy from the Nomad Capitalist YouTube channel has recommended Wise for median-sized transfers. (He said for really big transfers you might be able to work out a better deal directly with your bank).

BTW, I also have an Ecuadorian PayPal account and I can use it with zero problems to get paid from websites like Gumroad and Italki. I just walked into a New York Bank of America office and told them I wanted to open an account just to withdraw money from PayPal. I can now withdraw up to $400 at a time using Banco Internacional ATMs. I only pay $5 foreign ATM fee to Bank of America, and Banco Internacional charges nothing for using their ATMs. Aaand since in Ecuador we use US dollars, Bank of America can't charge any currency conversion fee. If I had to do it again, I'd probably try getting a Capital One account, just to save those $5 dollar every time I use the ATM. The sad side of BoA is that they charge 3% if you buy with the debit card. But WISE charges nothing for buying with the debit card, so, again... Get a Wise card.

Extra tip: Use your Wise card for online purchases. If you use an Ecuadorian credit/debit card, you'll be hit with a 12% VAT every time you buy from any company that the Ecuadorian government has classified as "Digital services". Even if you're buying hardware! For example, buying a Mac on Apple.com can become ridiculously expensive if you only have Ecuadorian cards.

Another extra tip: Once money enters Ecuador, it can only be transferred Ecuador paying 5% ISD (Impuesto a la Salida de Divisas). So only transfer to Ecuador what you'll be spending INSIDE Ecuador. Keep the rest in the US, in your Wise account or in Canada. For online card purchases you'll only be hit with this 5% once you go past $5,000 a year. If you're taking cash out of Ecuador when you travel, you'll have to pay this tax every time you take more than 1K with you.

Yet another extra: 4 years ago my brother transferred money from Chile to Ecuador to buy a house. He was hit with about a $70 fee. It was Banco Guayaquil. It was a very, very tiny house. So your mileage might vary with bigger transfers. Banco Guayaquil will flatly deny having taken any fee beyond their advertised $10, of course.

I am a Canadian Living in Ecuador and I have been here more than 8 years. I use the bank called Produbanco. It is a Central American Bank that has a branch in Ecuador. They have been very good to me. I don't send large quantities of money to Ecuador unless I am and doing something special such as buying a property or buying a car. What I do is regular transfers from my TD Bank in Canada usually numbers like $2450 at a time which is one of the more cost-effective amounts to send. I don't find any problem sending money to my account. There is a cost in Canada around $13, but I am not sure how much it is to receive in Ecuador but is not a lot.   I tie it to my Visa card when I send it. So all in all not difficult to send money and I do not use wire transfers unless it is for a huge quantities of money money.

I have had no problem using this particular Bank, and, in fact, found that they were very welcoming to me when Pichincha turned me down over 8 years ago. This Bank also allows some payments made directly to the bank such as my medical payments and in general is a very easy to work with bank. One of the things I need to caution people about is it once you get to Ecuador if you are over either 65 or 60 you cannot get an Ecuadorian Visa or Mastercard account. When you set up a bank account you can get a debit card card but you cannot get credit. It is very important to arrange a number of credit cards before you come to Ecuador if your age is around retirement age. I hope this helps you a little bit, Linda

I forgot to mention monthly fees. I use an account called Ahora and there are a few fees but not high.   I never use cheques and this is not a savings account so there is no interest. But most Ecuadorian Banks do offer short-term savings instruments if you wish and they are at a much higher rate then in Canada.

Thanks, Linda. Just a warning about Produbanco: When I opened an account with them back in 2001, I actually went through the entire contract that you sign. I found a clause that said they reserved the right to freeze your money whenever they wanted. I didn't think too much of it at the time. Later, I noticed that, no matter how much money I had in my Produbanco account, sometimes on weekends when I tried to use an ATM the ATM would tell me I only had $100. In Monday the money appeared again in my account. It's been 21 years, so they've probably left these shady practices, but... Just something I wanted to share with you guys.

Hi Linda, thank you very much for your reply. This is very helpful.
When you says you tie your bank account to your visa, what exactly do you mean?

Take care

When I use my TD Bank account based in Canada, I go online for an international transfer to my Ecuador bank.  I am given a choice of bank account to bank account or Visa debit card to debit card.  The debit card route seems to reduce fees at the Ecuador end.   Wire transfers are costly not only to send but to receive.  Much also depends on how much you need to transfer.    When I was buying a property the numbers were fairly large but now for daily life the transfers are much smaller.

Help! I am selling a property in ECU and am transferring the funds to USA 5% tax to transfer is really high, any way around or easier to transfer the money ?