The U.S. Government is requiring banks "to grill" U.S. Expats to find out the reason why they are sending money out of the country to EC via wire transfer.
This is one of the sobering items for wire-transfer candidates to think about, that the Loja Welcome Center has just shared with us. As the LWC commentary appeared originally on possibly a less-viewed thread ("Questions before we start our visit..."), I am posting aspects of it on this new thread.
Under the (U.S.) Tax Compliance Act called FATCA, your U.S. bank can withhold 30 percent of the money you're attempting to wire-transfer to Ecuador if the receiving EC bank is deemed to be non-compliant with FATCA. Then it's up to YOU to recover the 30 percent from the IRS.
(Source: Loja Welcome Center)
The LWC article also warns against keeping large amounts of money in any account connected with a debit card; better to keep it in a savings account.
For more guidance -- and to learn about the problem with getting money OUT of Ecuador -- visit the Loja Welcome Center "money" page at: lojawelcomecenter.com(forward slash)daily-life-in-loja-ecuador.html#money