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Cédula ID.

Replacing a cédula may or may not be a nightmare.  The card is useful for most purchases beyond a ´Ú°ù³Ü³Ù±ð°ùí²¹ or a neighborhood mom 'n pop convenience store .. and is a requirement if you want to obtain a driver's license, a bank account (a few exceptions to this) or other valuable documents.

I've never had to replace my cédula, which I've had since 2014 and is good for a total of ten years.  But the prospect of losing it is scary, so I prefer to treat it like gold.

My ironclad rule is... always have a laminated two-sided backup card .. and leave the original cédula safely at home unless you absolutely must take it with you.

Banks (for withdrawals) and government agencies often require you to present the original ID .. and some nightclubs have been known to require such.  For most purposes, though, the laminated copy is as good as the original.  In my experience, that even applies to a police stop of an innocent citizen.

I have memorized the ten-digit cédula number.  This comes in handy, e.g. when you don't have your store discount card on you at checkout yet the clerk can still give you your discount if you can tell her your cédula number.

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Drivers license.

This card could be another nightmare to replace.

I like to keep the card in the glove compartment, so it's always handy at a traffic stop .. and I can't forget to take it with me when driving.

The potential risk, of course, is that someone could break into your car and steal the license.  I will take that risk, all things considered.

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Bank cards issued by the home country.

I have a card from each of two banks in the U.S.  By virtually never taking both of them with me at the same time, I automatically have a backup for accessing my USA funds.

Ecuador bank card.

Having an Ecuador bank account is another backup in case of theoretically losing one of my USA bank cards.

If I were to lose my Banco Guayaquil card, I could walk to the bank, five blocks from my condo, and request a replacement card.  While waiting for the card, I would use a USA bank card to access funds in the home country.

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Condo entrada/salida card.

This is the card I remember losing permanently.

The conjunto administration charged me $25 to replace it.

That's a lot less than the hundreds of dollars some AirBnB hosts threaten to charge if you lose one of their keys.

Also, when I paid up, I received a replacement card immediately.

In the days when I couldn't find the card but wasn't sure yet that it was permanently lost, I had the 24/7 guard let me in and out of the main entrance to the complex.

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Condo unit keys.

The unit's outer security-gate is closed but not locked unless I travel outside of Ecuador.  I keep a duplicate key for this gate inside the condo.

The original door key:  I have several duplicates of this valuable key.

I placed one of the duplicates in an over-the-door hiding place in an unoccupied condo in the same complex.  Over a period of several years, this dupe has always been in the hiding place when I check it every week or two.

I also like to keep a duplicate in my car, either in the glove compartment or taped securely to the inside of a license plate.

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Arrange to obtain money from back home.

Don't want to open an Ecuadorian bank account?  Don't want multiple home-country bank accounts .. or having trouble opening such account(s) from your present location?

Then you may need to consider an alternative plan to access your out-of-country funds in case of a lost card.

On his most recent 'Coffee Time' program at the YouTube.com Gran Colombia channel, USA Expat Loren Lowe (rhymes with cow) recommended Worldremit.com ...

Loren said this site provides an efficient and cost-effective way to send money to yourself from overseas.

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I do what you said with my cedula. My first was stolen in a backpack. Took 3 days of standing in line to replace it. I have 2 US banks and have needed them for the same reason.  Recently,  I discovered Charles Schwab will send a replacement card to Ecuador free. But through FedEx,  so you have to have a friend in the cities serviced by FedEx. For those using your passport, make a copy of the most recent stamp page and main page to carry with you.

Tsaxton wrote:

I do what you said with my cedula. My first was stolen in a backpack. Took 3 days of standing in line to replace it.

Wow!  Three days!

This is the 'nightmare' scenario -- having to deal with the ³Ù°ùá³¾¾±³Ù±ð²õ of a government agency that can suck the life out of your week.

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cccmedia wrote:

Tsaxton wrote:

I do what you said with my cedula. My first was stolen in a backpack. Took 3 days of standing in line to replace it.

Wow!  Three days!

This is the 'nightmare' scenario -- having to deal with the ³Ù°ùá³¾¾±³Ù±ð²õ of a government agency that can suck the life out of your week.

cccmedia

My wife & I were married in October of 2020. She is STILL waiting for her turn to get an updated Cedula that shows casada & my name. She was worried that she would not be allowed to vote in the recent elections because her Cedula was no longer accurate. Fortunately that did not seem to be a problem...

\Damon

Dagretto wrote:

My wife & I were married in October of 2020. She is STILL waiting for her turn to get an updated Cedula that shows casada & my name. She was worried that she would not be allowed to vote in the recent elections because her Cedula was no longer accurate. Fortunately that did not seem to be a problem.

Half the government's work force was out of the workplace for the pandemic until this week.  So they pretty much have had to be lenient about potential over-enforcement.

Allowing motorists to drive on expired Ecuador drivers licenses (until December 31, 2021) is another example of this.

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Money belts.

Money belts protect more than just currency.

While a standard card may or may not fit inside the belt, most keys will fit easily.  That can be an excellent backup to your keychain, which can become detached.

The belt typically contains a long zippered compartment on the inside that cannot be seen when worn.

I don't wear my money belt all that frequently here in Quito, but a situation came up this week for which my money belt was ideal.  I had to pay for my car registration -- an expensive proposition because I was two years behind due to travel.   As an Expat with a savings account and no check-writing privileges, I decided to use the money-belt strategy for what was necessary:  obtaining cash from my Banco Guayaquil account and walking it over to Banco del Pacífico, which may be the only bank in the city that accepts such payments. 

I don't like to walk around busy areas with too much cash in my pockets.  Over ten years ago in an Expat-unfriendly area off Quito's Loja street, four men attacked me in broad daylight.  No weapons, but they put me on the ground in mere seconds, ransacked my pockets .. and stole $50 in cash.  What they didn't know is that I had almost $500 more stashed in my money belt, which they didn't touch.

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Pacífico had a long line to enter the bank as it was the last day of the month.  I didn't have the time to wait.  So I'll be wearing that cash-filled money belt again tomorrow as I head over there to make the deposit.  In Ecuador, having one's car registration paid up automatically provides a motorist with liability insurance.  I know this because my attorney told me so.

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These suggestions are terrific.
I follow all of them. I use my laminated copy of cédula all the time. This was something that surprised me about Ecuador, that a copy will suffice in most instances because that isn't the case in the US.
I leave most cards at home, carrying the most useful one in my wallet. Loss minimization