Before you start

Cédula de identidad — a visa alone is generally not enough
Proof of income or of the source of funds
Proof of a Quito address, usually a utility bill
An Ecuadorian mobile number

Step-by-step

1
Get the cédula before attempting a full account
Ecuadorian banks work from the cédula. A visa in your passport is not the same thing, and applications without a cédula are commonly refused without much explanation.
In personWho: You
2
Choose between a bank and a cooperativa deliberately
Banks — Pichincha, Produbanco, Guayaquil, Internacional — have the branch networks and the better apps. The cooperativas de ahorro y crédito often pay noticeably better on savings and are widely used by Ecuadorians, under a separate regulator. Understand which regulator stands behind your money.
In personWho: You
3
Bring documentation of where your money comes from
Ecuadorian banks apply source-of-funds rules strictly, and a large inbound transfer without paperwork will be held. Arrive with statements and a letter from the sending institution rather than answering questions retrospectively.
In personWho: You
4
Understand the ISD before you move money out
The Impuesto a la Salida de Divisas is charged on funds leaving Ecuador, including outbound transfers and some card transactions abroad. The rate has been reduced repeatedly in recent years — confirm the current figure with the SRI rather than assuming, and factor it in before planning regular transfers home.
OnlineWho: You
5
Set up transfers and payments
Interbank transfers, utility payments and mobile payment services work well. Card acceptance is good in the north of the city and the valleys and much patchier in the markets and the older centre, where cash is still the norm.
Mobile appWho: You
6
Keep small notes and expect coin change
Ecuador uses US notes, and breaking a fifty or a hundred in an ordinary shop is genuinely difficult. It also mints its own centavo coins that circulate alongside US ones. Withdrawing in twenties and hoarding small notes is a real daily habit here.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Cédula de identidad
Passport
Proof of income and source of funds
Proof of address
Ecuadorian mobile number

Things most newcomers don’t know

Dollarisation removes an entire category of financial risk, and people undervalue it until they have lived without it.

There is no exchange rate to watch, no spread on your salary, no devaluation eroding savings, no parallel market and no need to hold a second currency. Compared with Argentina, Peru or Colombia, the mental overhead of managing money simply disappears. It also means a price quoted to you in 2026 means the same thing in 2028, which changes how you can plan.

Source: Banco Central del Ecuador

The ISD is the tax nobody warns you about, and it is charged on money going out.

The Impuesto a la Salida de Divisas applies to funds transferred out of Ecuador and to certain foreign card transactions. For someone paying a foreign mortgage, supporting family abroad or repatriating savings, it is a recurring cost that does not exist in most countries. The rate has been cut several times in recent years as policy has shifted, so check the SRI's current figure — but do not plan a cross-border money flow without knowing it exists.

Source: SRI

The cooperativas are a real part of the financial system, not a fringe.

Ecuador has an unusually large cooperative savings and credit sector, serving a substantial share of the population under the Superintendencia de Economía Popular y Solidaria rather than the banking regulator. Rates on savings are often materially better than at the banks. The trade-offs are thinner digital services and a different supervisory regime — worth understanding rather than dismissing, since many Ecuadorians use both.

Source: Superintendencia de Bancos; SEPS

Cash still runs the older half of the city.

Card acceptance is good in the northern business districts, the malls and the valleys, and noticeably worse in the historic centre, the markets and among tradespeople. Since the currency is the US dollar, this means carrying actual dollar bills — and small ones, because breaking a fifty in a market is a genuine problem. New arrivals who try to live cashlessly find half the city closed to them.

Source: community-reported