Money Advice for Brazil

  The Dollar is easily exchangeable and you can even pay in dollars for some goods and services. The Euro, Pound Sterling and Swiss Franc can also be easily exchanged in banks, tour agencies and money exchange shops ( the latter two are usually combined ). But the dollar rules and it is recommended to bring some dollars or dollar travelers cheques, and credit cards which are widely used.

  The Brazilian currency is the Real. Since this currency was introduced in 1994 inflation has been very low in comparison to the previous situation where the level of inflation was up to 50% per MONTH. Since then it has averaged around 10% or less a YEAR. There are several exchange rates for the Real. The only three of concern are the Official, Tourist and Parallel rate. The Official rate governs business transactions, the Tourist rate governs transactions carried out by tourists whilst in the country( eg using credit cards ) and the parallel rate is what you get when changing cash anywhere but banks.

Getting Local Currency

1) Travelers Cheque's - These are best changed in the money exchange shops ( CAMBIOS in Portuguese ) found mainly in the tourist agencies. Also American Express has an office at the front of the Copacabana Palace hotel on Avenida Atlantica ( the beach front ). The rate you get for travelers cheque is normally a little less than exchanging cash. See below for a list of Cambios. You can also change in Hotels but the rate is generally lower.

2) Cash - This can be changed in all the above and in a lot of shops as well. It is not worth doing it in banks as the rate will be much lower plus you will normally have to queue for a long time. The rate in use excluding banks will be the parallel. This rate is usually higher than the tourist and official rate. It varies by how much, presently it is only a couple of percent higher. There have been a few times when it was actually lower than the official rate. You will not get a very good rate at the airport upon arrival so change the minimum you require until you reach your hotel/apartment.

3) ATM's - Not all ATMs work with cards issued in countries other than Brazil but there are sufficient within Rio to make life easy enough. Nearly all shops, restaurants bars etc accept credit cards. Outside of Rio and the larger cities you should not rely on them to obtain cash, although credit cards can be used for purchases in nearly all reasonable sized towns.

Some of the ATMs to look out for are Banco 24 Horas( red kiosks), Banco Itau, HSB, Citibank. Note that some of these banks have a mixture of ATMs - some that will work with foreign cards and some that won't, and they look almost identical. For example Banco Itau - the only way of telling is to look for the small Cirrus and Maestro logo on the front panel. These are the ones that will work with foreign cards. Citibank seems to accept all cards. All cash is dispensed in local currency. Most of the ATM's listed to the right are accesible 24 hours a day - swipe your card and you will unlock the door of the ATM kiosk or into the foyer of the bank .

For the Location of Citibank ATMs in the rest of Rio and other Brazilian Cities >Click Here<

If you want another credit card prior to your vacation then the following link has 100's of Credit Cards - Apply Online You can compare them and get the best deal for you. —

4) Wire transfers - Money grams through the American Express office mentioned above. Western Union transfers are received at Banco do Brazil branches ( this bank has a yellow and Blue logo ). Again all money is received in local currency. Check out the following links.

 Western Union Money Transfer  or   iKobo Money Transfer

Important Note - As a general rule do NOT change money in the street, there is no black market, the best rate you can get is the parallel rate from the Cambios mentioned above.

Exchange rates
Get the latest Dollar/Real rate here - Currency Converter

Cambios ( Money Exchange )

Copacabana

 Lafayete 395B Avenida Nossa Senhora de Copacabana
 Universal Cambio 379 Avenida Nossa Senhora de Copacabana
 Best Exchange 371 B-C Avenida Nossa Senhora de Copacabana

The 3 Cambios above are all very close together. You will be hard pressed to get a better deal than from one of these 3. They are located a few hundred yards from rear entrance of the Copacabana Palace Hotel on Avenida Copacabana, to the left if you are standing with your back to the sea

Barra

 GeoTur - Downtown shopping centre
 CittaTur - CittaAmerica Shopping centre Loja 103E, Av das  Americas,
 Belle Tours - Barra Shopping, Loja (shop) 208

American Express Offices

Av. Atlântica, 1.702/01 - Hotel Copacabana Palace - Copacabana.
Aeroporto Internacional do Rio de Janeiro - Terminal 2 Arrivals.

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