With the current downturn in the global economy and soaring inflation, you may be looking for a way to safely invest some of your money and still earn some returns. Investing in a CD in Ecuador might be an interesting option for you. In addition, this is one way how to get residency in Ecuador and also make some guaranteed returns.
Key Points
The largest banks in Ecuador are Banco del Pichincha, Produbanco, and Banco de Guayaquil. There is also Citibank. While you can get above average rates at these banks than you would find anywhere in the USA, the best rates are found in the Ecuadorian Coopertivas.
- Largest banks offer rates around 3% – 4%
- Coopertivas can offer rates over 9%: 9.05%, 9.25%, even 9.5%
- CDs for over a year are tax-free in Ecuador! (I personally like to choose 370 days to make it clearly over a year)
- The Deposit Insurance Corporation (COSEDE) guarantees up to $32,000
- Many will allow you to open small CDs, $100 or even less, although at a lower interest rate
- Not all banks & Coopertivas will open a CD for non-residents, but most will if it is for a residency through CD
How to get Ecuadorian Residency from investing into a CD
To obtain residency in Ecuador from the purchase of a bank/coopertiva CD you must invest $42,500 plus $500 per dependent. This must go into one two year CD. You may recall from the previous section that COSEDE only guarantees up to $32,000, so in the event of a bank failure you could lose the difference. However, you should still consider this as with interest rates at this level you can make more than the difference in just over a couple years. At that point anything you make is a profit afterward, even in the event of a bank failure. For this reason, many expats choose JEP as it is one of the largest Coopertivas and still pays a respectable 8% for their residency CD.
This could be an excellent option if you are interested in how to retire in Ecuador as you can establish a tax-free income stream with your savings or even from the value of your home if you are interested in moving permanently. From around $256,000 in investments in CDs you are looking at a guaranteed yearly tax-free income of around over $16,000 (~$1357/month) from just investing the maximum COSEDE insured amount in each of the Coopertivas on this list. While that might not sound like a lot back in your home country, in Ecuador that’s enough for a comfortable standard of living, and that’s assuming you have no other sources of income.
What are the interest rates at an Ecuadorian Bank or Co-op (coopertiva or cooperative)?
Here is a chart of all the banks and co-ops I have checked:
Ecuadorian Banks
Remember, the banks don’t pay as well as the coopertivas, but you may want to consider one of these banks to deposit the interest of your CDs into if your CD is at or over the value insured by COSEDE to ensure all your money is maximally protected.
Banco del Pichincha
Website: https://www.pichincha.com/ (Calculator: here)
Location: National
Interest Rate: up to 3.4% on CDs over 360 days.
Banco Guayaquil
Website: https://www.bancoguayaquil.com
Location: National
Produbanco
Website: https://www.produbanco.com.ec/
Location: National
Ecuadorian Coopertivas & CD interest rates
Alianza del Valle
Website: https://www.alianzadelvalle.fin.ec/ (Calculator: here)
Location: Quito
Interest Rate: Starting at $10,001 on a 370 day CD you can receive a rate of 9% monthly or 9.25% at maturity
JEP
Website: https://www.jep.coop/ (Interest chart: here)
Location: National
Interest Rate: 8% on CDs over 370 days
Progresso
Website: https://www.cooprogreso.fin.ec/ (Calculator here)
Interest Rate: 7.75%
Cooperativa Policia Nacional
Website: https://www.cpn.fin.ec/ (Calculator here)
Location: National
Interest Rate: 9.25%, can go up to 9.5% for larger amounts
Crea
Website: https://crea.fin.ec/
Location: Cuenca
Interest Rate: Starting at $20,001 you will receive 9.05%
29 de Octubre
https://www.29deoctubre.fin.ec/
Location: National
Interest Rate: 7.6%
Finca
Website: https://finca.ec/
Do you know any other good Ecuadorian bank or coopertivas to check out? If so, please leave a comment below I’d love to update the list.
Hi
To get a bank CD for a temp residential visa what qualifications do I need or what paperwork do I need to present to get this CD
Thank you
All you need is a background check from your home country (FBI & State for USA), your passport, and enough money to deposit into your new account for the CD. Also, your first CD must be to gain residency in Ecuador (Meaning your first CD MUST be of value $42,500) unless you get residency some other way.