How to move money from the US to Ecuador

Dollars to dollars. The fee is the line you see before you confirm.

October 9, 2026 · 3 minute read

Textile stalls at the Otavalo artisan market — Photograph by David Adam Kess, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ecuador already uses the US dollar, so this is not a currency trade. It is a question of who carries the money, and what they charge. The figures below are not copied. Each service shows its own fee on the transfer you build.

Wise

Wise describes a dollar transfer from the United States into a bank account in Ecuador. The recipient does not need a Wise account. You can pay from a bank or with a card. Wise says the fee is shown before you send, and that a transfer paid from a Wise balance is usually the cheaper path. Speed depends on how you pay. Use the live quote. A number from a blog is already old.

Your bank

An international wire from a US bank still works. It is often the clumsy one: a fee at your bank, sometimes a fee at the receiving bank, and a form that asks for a SWIFT code. The amounts are on your bank’s schedule. This guide does not repeat them. Keep the US account either way. A local Ecuadorian account usually waits on residency, which the banking chapter covers.

Remitly

Remitly’s Ecuador page offers cash pickup and bank deposit. The recipient does not need a Remitly account. Providers named for transfers from the United States include Banco Pichincha, Banco Guayaquil, Produbanco, and Banco del Pacífico, among others. Delivery speed and the fee are chosen on the transfer. Revolut is a separate app, with its own schedule, for people who already keep money there.

Do not wire a rent deposit to a listing you have not walked through. That warning lives in the renting chapter.

Sources: Wise, send money to Ecuador · Remitly, Ecuador · Remitly, providers. Rewritten here. Quotes on those pages move.

The links