Opening a Bank Account in Ecuador: Day 3

We went back this morning with all of our papers, ready to open a bank account. For the third day. We even got there a little earlier than than past two days and beat out the line, so we went straight to a bank representative. My host mother proudly showed all of the documents that they had requested, signed and filled out correctly. Just as the bank had asked. But of course, it wasn't going to end there.

As the woman behind the desk went through all the papers, I could see she was just looking for a reason to not give me a bank account. It would be too easy. First she yelled over to an associate about something, apparently she wanted more than my Ecuadorian ID, she wanted some other ID that foreigners don't even get.

She then called up her boss, and after a minute on the phone, accepted that the card I had was good enough. She had me sign about 20 different papers, some with blue ink, some with black ink, some at the bottom, some in the middle. Everything was in order, and we were on our way. I even went over to the teller to deposit my $5 and get the account started, but then Issue #225 presented itself.

As she was asking me what design I wanted on my bank card (there were four choices, and I all but told her I didn't care what it looked like, I just wanted it), she suddenly realized that I needed another piece of paper from the university. Apparently the contract wasn't enough for them, even though the university never told me I'd need another piece of paper. This other letter from the university would have to be handed to the bank before I could officially have my account and get my bank card.

So now I have my bank account, technically, but I can't access it. I can check it online, but I can't do anything other than wave to it. I went with my host sister to the office at the university later on after class to get the letter, and that was just another roadblock. I had to show my photocopy of my passport, which I luckily had. The secretary made a photocopy, but then gave it back to me, leaving me to wonder why she needed it in the first place.

Now I will have to go back tomorrow to pick up the letter from the university, so hopefully by Friday, Day 5, I will have my bank account so that I can start getting a little money flowing in. But I'm not holding my breath.

Opening a Bank Account in Ecuador

You might be able to guess from the title that this is going to be a bit complicated. In order to get paid my stipend by the university, I need to open up a bank account at one of the banks here in Ecuador. For some reason they don't want to just pay me straight up in cash, which would obviously be preferable, maybe in a nice sack with a big $ on it.

But nope, I need to open a bank account here. There are a few different banks down here: Banco Pichinca, Banco del Austro, Banco del Pacifico, etc. Some people are still wary of the banks here since the 2000 economic crises, in which banks froze accounts and no one could take out their money. Then the country switched over to the dollar and families lost nearly all of their money in the conversion. So try to imagine how people felt in the United States about opening a bank account in 1934. It's sort of similar, sort of.

The university has some sort of deal worked out with Banco del Pacifico, so I was told to go there to open up an account. I was also told beforehand by other volunteers that it's an extreme headache to open an account here, as they make the foreigners go through all kinds of obstacles.

At the department office I was told that all I would need is my passport and a copy of my contract with the university. A little too easy, I thought, but gave it a shot. Yesterday morning I went with my host mother to the bank and waited in a line that was growing steadily and not moving. We sat waiting for about 45 minutes and then somehow cut to the front of the line and sat down at a desk.

My host mother did all of the talking and I sat back like a child waiting for my turn to speak. The woman behind the desk looked at my passport, my Ecuadorian ID card, and then my contract, but she was looking for other ways to prevent me from getting an account. So she came back with a sheet of paper listing all of the other things I'd need. The list includes:

• Color photocopies of my passport, Ecuadorian ID card, and a credit card
• Three references from Ecuadorian citizens
• A photocopy of my university contract
• Photocopies of the Ecuadorian IDs of all of my references
• All original copies of my passport, Ecuadorian ID card, and credit card, and
• $5 to open the account

And I think that was all of it. Ecuadorians love beauracracy and paperwork. This is apparently normal for foreigners trying to open an account. We came back this morning, earlier than yesterday to beat the rush, and there was already a line. We waited for about 20 minutes before we realized the "system" was down and wouldn't be back up until the afternoon. Yesterday there was a powerful thunderstorm, and the guess was that it somehow knocked the bank offline. I personally don't know how that could be the case, since a bank usually has backup systems and other failsafe procedures, but then again I'm not a banker.

So day two on trying to open a bank account went down, and tomorrow I'll have to try again, for the third time, to open an account. With any luck, I'll get my first paycheck by December.