Articles

Everyone tells you to buy. The prices are so cheap! But cheap doesn't mean smart. Here's why renting might be the better financial move for most expats — and when buying actually makes sense.

Opening a bank account in Ecuador isn't hard — but the requirements vary wildly between banks. Here's what Banco Pichincha, Banco del Austro, JEP, and other institutions actually ask for, and which ones are easiest for expats.

The CREA cooperative collapse rattled confidence in Ecuador's savings institutions. But regulators say most large cooperatives entered 2026 with healthy balance sheets. Here's how to verify your cooperative is solid and protect your deposits.

Seven months after the CREA cooperative shut down, 281 members — including retirees and migrant workers — still can't recover their deposits. The government says 99% of people got paid. The remaining 1% says that's not good enough when $31 million is still missing.

In a rare move that's raising eyebrows in the expat community, Cuenca's alcalde has taken legal action against foreigners who accused him of leaking sensitive information. Details are still emerging, but here's what we know so far.

The Policía Nacional has established a fixed security operation in Sayausí, the western Cuenca parish that serves as the gateway to Cajas National Park. It comes after the municipality donated over $500,000 to bolster police resources in the area.

Remember when we told you they were going to try? They did it. On Valentine's Day, 30 chefs prepared 1,723 kilograms of mote pata at Plaza San Francisco, earning Cuenca an official Guinness World Record and feeding 9,500 people for free.

If your lease is up soon, brace yourself. One-bedroom apartments in Cuenca now run $550–750/month, two-bedrooms hit $750–1,100, and the days of the mythical $400 rental are mostly over. Here's what's driving it and where to look.