Gringo-Cuencano moving to Cuenca in September 2013

I can help with the PNC bank question.  I use a PNC account.  They say they charge a $5.00 fee for every foreign ATM withdraw.  I have never been charged, and I'm not going to ask them why.  Maybe it was because I told them I was living here.  My parents also have a PNC bank account, visited Ecuador, and they were charged the $5.00 fee.  I would expect to pay the fee.  Some ATMs don't accept my card.  Produbanco won't take it.    I have good luck with Banco Pichincha, Banco Internacional, and Banco Guayaquil. 

My credit cards are Visa but were issued through PNC. I'm not charged any fee per transaction, and I think it's because Ecuador uses the US dollar.  I remember whenever I used the cards in Canada, I was charged a percentage of the transaction, I assume because the currencies were different.

My mind drew a blank:

http://askville.amazon.com/acronym-init … d=20605289

Thank you very much jm. That helped a lot! I was going to tell the bank about me moving to Ecuador, even though I do not have my credit cards with them (one is CitiBank and the other is CapitalOne and I have used both in Ecuador before and no fees) I will need to withdraw some money and open a local bank account (my parents say that Banco Bolivariano is a good deal).

Have you ever deposited PNC checks into a local Ecuadorian bank? Do you know how long it takes to clear?

Thank you so much again

Can confirm capital One charges no foreign ATM fees.

mugtech wrote:

Can confirm capital One charges no foreign ATM fees.

Thank you mugtech. How do you manage your monthly statements? Online or do they mail them to Ecuador?

live in USA, get them by mail, but online is an option.

Plan to do everything online, amigo. Mail service here is not dependable.

How about computer hardware?  Is it reasonable/accessible to buy hard drives, mother boards, laptops, tablets, etc?  Or better to buy in the US and have it shipped in?

If I were in the market for any of those things I would mail them over here, especially if I know they fall under the 8.8 pound shipping threshhold.

Sorry??  8.8 lbs?  Never heard of that?  Could you elaborate?

4 kg

I can ship any weight package anywhere.  I am assuming there is some tax avoidance related to the weight?  I also do understand 8.8=4, I would have thought there was more to it than that.

http://www.correosdelecuador.com.ec/pag … odiInfo=76