On March 13, 2000, the U.S. dollar became the official currency of Ecuador, replacing the sucre. Sucre notes were used until September 11 of that same year. Banco Central continued to exchange sucre notes for U.S. dollars until March 30, 2001. At that time, the exchange rate was 25,000 sucres to 1 U.S. dollar.
All paper money in Ecuador is in U.S. dollars. They are issued in the same denominations as they are in the United States.
Ecuador has all the same coins that the U.S. is currently using. Additionally, Ecuador, at the time of dollarization, issued centavo coins. These coins are issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 and $1. These are equal in value to the U.S. coins. The $1 centavo coin is commonly used.
Traveler's Checks are accepted in banks in Ecuador. The charge for Traveler's Checks is between one and four percent of the face value.
All major brands of credit cards are accepted in Ecuador. Many places have a surcharge (4 to 10 percent) for using credit cards.
