Opening first bank account - Any recommendations?

I have used Itau branch ATMs before.  The daily limit is low, I think 750BR for me.  Look for a machine with a symbol that matches one on the back of your debit card.

Hi Team

Lots of info here - thankyou.

Does anyone know of a banking app (either online or bricks&mortar) that is bi-lingual (English)?  After spending lots of time in Rio surviving on Cirrus cash from Santander ATMs and an AUD$ credit card, I'm relocating permenantly ... but my Portuguese is basic ... and when it comes to money/banking I need to understand things PRECISELY!!

I have CPF and RNME.

Cheers.

@MikeInRio if you are a tax resident in Brazil I would recommend Wise. You can open an account in several currencies including BRL. They will issue you a debit card that you can use pretty much everywhere. If you are not a tax resident in Brazil , open an account in Australia ( I am assuming you are an Aussie) and transfer money to it which you can then convert into reais and use the debit card to withdraw money in Brazil. Wise has the best currency conversion rates in the market. Wise has both the application in several languages depending where you live and a website . You can perform account operations in both.

I use wise . So far no issues. You will know the exchange  rate and fees before you make any transaction. Go online and read about wise. Lot of literature out there.

@kawakasbah Thanks ... yes have discovered Wise and used it for TX rent payments to my landlord's Itau bank account.  I'll follow-up on the debit card option. Thanks again.

@martinsan

Hi is everythng going with this bank account ? Are you still happy ? Thanks a lot

I'm very happy with Iti. If you plan to use it just for payments, it's a good option: Debit card, PIX, mobile phone top ups, pay boletos, etc. I managed to open an account with just a CPF last year. I'm not sure if anything has changed since then...