How to Buy East Caribbean Dollars
If you wish to buy East Caribbean Dollars for a visit to the Islands, you may wish to buy your money online here.
If you are looking to change your XCD for British Pounds Sterling or Canadian Dollars and have an amount greater than 15,000 XCD, then you may like to take advantage of currency conversion at commercial rates better than the banks and without commission or a transfer charge, here.
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About The East caribbean Dollar, EC$:
The East Caribbean Dollar, or XCD, is pegged to the US Dollar, (USD). The East Caribbean dollar is the currency used in the eight states that make up the area known as the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. There are 6 independent states that use the East Caribbean dollar. These are Antigua & Barbuda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Grenada and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines.
The other two states are the British overseas territories of Monserrat and Anguilla. Paradoxically, the British Virgin Islands, which is a member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, does not use the East Caribbean dollar, preferring instead to use the US dollar as its currency.
The East Caribbean dollar is sub-divided into 100 cents and it is denoted by the symbol $, but often it is referred to as EC$, to differentiate it from the US dollar or other dollar currencies.
The East Caribbean dollar is issued by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and is in the form of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 cents and $1 as coins and in $5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollars, as notes.
Other ways to get EC$’s while on the islands:
If you are on one of the Islands already, some advice on the ease of buying XCD, or USD from ATM’s follows:
Anguilla:
Anguilla, despite its size has a few ATM machines, so it is relatively easy to get hold of East Caribbean dollars, but the US dollar is in widespread use here and menus and prices are often quoted in US dollars, so it is easy to get by just using dollars.
Antigua and Barbuda:
Despite the fact that these are two small and relatively isolated islands, credit cards are accepted throughout both the islands and there are also plenty of banks and most of these offer ATM facilities. In addition, it is possible to use US dollars.
Dominica:
Dominica also has ease of access to currency through ATM machines, although the use of the dollar is also widespread, you may find that in some of the smaller shops, they will only accept local currency.
Monserrat:
Monserrat has only one ATM machine which is located at the Canadian Bank (Royal Bank of Canada). However, credit and debit cards are also accepted here, as well as US dollars.
Saint Kitts and Nevis:
ATM machines are widely available and it is quite easy to get hold of the EC dollars, or else you can just use your US dollars which are quite readily accepted.
Saint Lucia and Grenada,:
Saint Lucia and Grenada also have an extensive network of ATM machines and it is possible to use US dollars here as well.
St Vincent and the Grenadines:
St Vincent is slightly more complicated than the other islands, because although there are ATM facilities on St Vincent, they are pretty scare on
Grenadine islands, so if you plan to visit the smaller islands that make up the Grenadines, then you will want to have at least some cash with you. But that being said, it will also be possible to use your credit cards quite extensively. To some extent these islands are the playground of the rich and privileged, so cards are readily accepted as well as US dollars. But for tips and smaller purchases, it is handy to have some cash.