Ecuador, a dollarized economy, has stable prices and exchange rates, but card penetration and bank account ownership are still limited, so cash-based payment — where the customer pays cash at a designated counter after placing an online order — plays a key role in e-commerce growth. Farmacias 911 is a channel that uses pharmacy counters for this kind of cash collection, and as its brand name '911' suggests, it is a pharmacy chain that emphasizes quick, close-to-home accessibility. The consumer orders online, receives a reference code, and pays in USD cash at a nearby location.

Sellers of household goods and lower- to mid-priced products with a high card drop-off rate, or services with a large share of student or cash-income customers, can raise their payment completion rate through this channel. Since Farmacias Economicas and Farmacias Medicity, other pharmacy-based cash collection chains, differ in their trade areas and customer base, you can also compare target-region coverage and combine several of them.

When the consumer selects this payment method for an online order, a reference code (payment number) is issued instantly, and within the validity period the consumer presents the code and pays in cash (USD) at a Farmacias 911 counter. Once the payment information is confirmed, a deposit notification is sent to the merchant and the order is finalized. Unlike card-approval payments, there is a time gap between issuance, payment, and confirmation, so you need to design inventory-holding time and an automatic cancellation policy for unpaid orders together.

Integrating through Hecto Financial lets a Korean merchant consider adopting this pharmacy cash-payment channel without signing an individual contract with the local collection network. However, location coverage and collection partnership scope can vary by region and time period, so the actual range of usable locations needs to be confirmed before signing the contract.

• Business registration country

  Confirm whether a contract is available under a Korean business registration

• Sales channels

  The integration method and priorities differ depending on your online sales channel mix, such as an owned storefront, open marketplaces, or a mobile app

• Product categories

  Check in advance whether your products fall under a restricted category under Farmacias 911's merchant policies

• Local regulatory compliance

  Confirm compliance with Ecuador's payment and foreign-exchange regulations (see official sources below)

Cash paid by the consumer at the pharmacy is tallied in USD and received by Hecto Financial, then paid out to the merchant at settlement time in whichever of USD, KRW, or JPY was designated in the contract. Because the receiving currency is already the US dollar, choosing USD settlement means the amount is fixed with no currency-conversion variable — a distinctive feature of Ecuador's cash-payment method. Given the nature of cash collection, refunds are often processed through a separate return procedure rather than a cancellation of the original transaction, so be sure to confirm the refund path and processing time at the contract stage.

• Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE)Official information on Ecuador's payment systems and related regulations. If this page's content differs from actual regulations, the official source takes precedence.