use of international credit cards in Brazil

@maavilu

Did you advise your bank that you would be in Brazil the last time? Maybe it was you bank incorrectly stopping your cards. A neat trick is to use your card at an ATM in the first airport when you arrive - that tells the bank you have just landed in the country and should be enough for them.

@maavilu agree with @Peter_itamaraca, it is always advised to have at least 200 reais on you at all times - from the ATM machine.  Please make sure that you also have some small bills (5 - 10 - 20 reais) too as some street vendors will pretend not to have change and pocket your change.

Re:  international credit cards - like @peter_itamaraca mentioned, you may want to check your credit card company before you leave. 

I have had problems with a specific credit card before because the local bank that processes credit card payment charged a higher fee - and the vendors just refused to process this credit card.

If all of your credit cards are being affected, there could be a problem with the international payment system - and that's beyond your control - and can only be solved by calling your individual credit card company.

Hope that this helps.

Hi

I almost ALWAYS use my BMO (issued in Canada) credit card with minimal problems. And there is NO mark up or foreign exchange fee as long as I pay in Brazilian Reis

But weid things happen.

1) Tap doesnt work but chip + pin does work

2) Chip + pin doesnt work but tap does work

3) Sometimes changing the payment machine (there are usually 2 card reading machines) solves the problem.

4) Very occasionally neither tap nor chip works and then I switch to my digital WISE Card and pay by tapping with my phone.

I have never been stuck.

WARNING: If you pay with your phone, always have the "contactless payment " option turned OFF so no one can steal a payment by bumping into you with a card reader in their pocket. I don't actually know if this can happen or it's just an urban myth, but better safe than sorry.

That being said, I also always carry R100 - 200 in cash just in case . . .

@maavilu

As was mentioned before always tell your bank before you leave.

Last time I was in brazil I could use my Mastercard anyplace. However, I found it is not working with vendors or a market that it used to last time.

It works at all the other places. I can only think it is the agreement they have with their pos company or they changed companies that do not allow international transactions.

I tried to write this before. However, I was having an issue with a drunk guy here at the post. Haha

I gave him a smoke but he wanted me to buy beer for him cause he was cut off. They gave him a free 0% beer to have him go.

Canada they would have treated him much worse for sure.

Regarding USA Issued cards:  Each has their own policy, for example: Chase, Capital One and AMEX don't require travel notifications, while Discover does.  I travel back and forth frequently and have never had issues.  Once in a while the scanning machines have issues - this isn't because of any bank policy, it's an issue with machine.  Have the merchant use another machine or use another card. 

Another very annoying thing I've noticed with Visa/Mastercard:  Cielo machines try to get you to have THEM do the currency conversion (which I don't want since my VISA/MCs don't charge FX) and the language they use on the terminal is very confusing.  Sometimes it's press the Green button if you want the transaction done in REAIS, other times it is reversed.  I complained to Chase and Capital One and they said they can't control it.  It's basically a scam to trick people into paying them (Cielo) to do an unnecessary FX conversion.  It's particularly a PITA at restaurants, etc. because the staff always seems to press the wrong button when completing the transaction.  Therefore, lately, I've been using AMEX and DISCOVER almost exclusively since they have their own payment networks and don't pull that crap.

So to summarize: when using an non-brazil issued MC/VISA in Brazil, regardless of whether the merchant is using CIELO or another branded machine, always make sure you are paying in REAIS unless you want to pay THEM for FX.  Better still, use AMEX or DISCOVER and avoid the hassle.

@maavilu

Reminder about the international bank cards (debit):

When they ask at check out "debito/credito", you should always say credito at check out for foreign cards. If you select debit and try paying with an international debit card, the transaction will not proceed.

@mikehunter dear Mark I know all this I have been doing all this in Brazil in 2023. but when I came back in January 2024 exactly with same card exactly  no one worked !!  no one at all ! then in same period I went other American Latin countries and it was working...I'm sure there is something new in Brazil with international cards happened recently ...I can't understand what is it !! very strange. all transactions are failed in pos machines pix and Cielo and all... !!

Clearly you must be a money laundering ne'er-do-well and they are on to you!

yeah so if pix failed thats local and you would want to contact your financial institution as to the reasoning why.

Limits are always in place. Always keep eyes on your daily and nightly limits - unmentioned item but the day and night transactions have caps even on international cards.

To get clarity on both sides (domestic) and (international) you need to call your respective institutions in the event someone did a bad dupe of your cards (common) They will lock out transactions