When I arrived to Ecuador, I needed to deposit $25,000 for the purpose of my resident visa application. I decided to make that deposit at Banco Pichincha because I read a recommendation somewhere by another expat.
In order to make that investment, I was required to open a savings account with them that comes with a Visa debit card. I was despositing checks periodically into this account drawn from my U.S. bank that would take about 2 weeks to clear. Pichincha currently has a $3,000 deposit limit on out-of-country checks.
Now that I have a checking account in the U.S. that doesn't charge ATM fees, I have less of a reason to maintain a balance in my Pichincha savings account.
Since I am now a citizen, In about 9 months when my CD expires, I expect be able to take control once again of my funds. I will leave the money in Ecuador, but I will have to make a decision as to whether I want to chase a higher interest rate with Certificate of Deposit with perhapsJEP.
Where and why do you have a bank account in Ecuador?
Nards wrote:
In about 9 months when my CD expires, I expect be able to take control once again of my funds. I will leave the money in Ecuador, but I will have to make a decision as to whether I want to chase a higher interest rate with Certificate of Deposit with perhapsJEP.
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JEP has a good record and has paid higher interest than banks, but -- as they say on Wall Street -- past performance may not be indicative of future results.
In this case -- meaning in the overall scenario of Ecuador -- placing substantial money in an account whose balance is not guaranteed, una cooperativa, could be a gamble. Depressed economy, devastated industries such as real estate and coast tourism, new presidente being elected in several months. Who knows if there would be another ‘run' on a co-op as happened in Cuenca about four years ago, hurting some Expat depositors?
Another thing frequently heard on Wall Street is this...
The greater the reward, the greater the risk.
I personally wouldn't invest more than ten percent of liquid assets into an Ecuador co-op. On the other hand, lower-interest-paying banks here are guaranteed up to about $33,000 per depositor/account at last word.
cccmedia in Quito
Can't help you on any bank recommendations in Ecuador Nards, but you may want to consider only putting some money into a short term account for 2017. Feds had a rate hike today, and sounds like there is a good possibility for several more in 2017. I know we have heard this about rate hikes before, but think that this time it's actually a real possibility. You should be able to lock into a better interest rate sometime later in 2017. Or maybe at least think about keeping some available investment cash free through 2017. and see what rates become available during the course of the year.
I had to open an account when I was in the process of switching from one visa status to another.
The bank recommended by the government for this purpose as I only required my Passport at the time was JEP.
I still have that account.
By the way, if you are from the USA you must provide the bank with a signed W2 each year to abide by the new FACTA rules of foreign accounts or your account will be closed.
How to get direct deposit Social Security to a bank account in Ecuador? JEP credit union is the only bank available until my cedula gets to me, and JEP can't receive direct deposit from Social Security. I read online that it is possible to get direct deposit in Ecuador. Does anyone have experience with this?
Emigrayo68
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