Banking in Ecuador has a long history. At the time of the dissolution of

Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), also known as Greater Colombia and officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and parts of Central ...

and its formation as a republic,

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

's economy was generally not monetized; gold and silver coins were circulated, and were brought into common use by successive currency laws.Superintendencia de Bancos y Seguros : superban.gov.ec - Historia
(archived version of http://www.superban.gov.ec/pages/1_historia1.htm) Little by little, with the growth of the nation, Ecuadorian banking also grew and was particularly centered on the city of

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

. After the Liberal Revolution came a period called the Banking Plutocracy ('' Plutocracia bancaria'') that was dominated by private banking, especially by the Commercial and Agricultural Bank of Guayaquil ('' Banco Comercial y Agrícola de Guayaquil''). This period ended with the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

(''Revolución Juliana'') of 1925. In 1998, Ecuador's banks faced the worst financial crisis in the country's history.

Major banks

The major banks today are the Banco Pichincha, Produbanco,

Citibank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

and Banco de Guayaquil.

References

{{Americas topic, List of banks in Economy of Ecuador Banks of Ecuador

Major banks

See also

References