Fraud protection on Brazilian Bank Cards?

My 2 US credit cards were cloned here in Brazil. Brazilian debit cards, I´ve used them and no problem so far for years... I´ve never really looked at the benefits and if they offer the fraud protection as the US banks offer. Cards here have very very low limits. Do they offer good fraud protection? If they do, I´m sure they follow VISA or Mastercard guidelines. ELO and other brand names, I have no idea.

robal

Never have used debit for purchases and never had an issue.
Did have minor charges made on a US CC and quickly got the adjustment.
If I need to buy something, just use the bank and withdraw the cash.
After a while, you may get approved for your bank CC. (Yes they offered me one when I open the account for R$400!, No thanks!)
After 3-4 years they want to give me a CC, no charge. Said no thanks. I guess they wanted to know my history.
Now BH has 3 CC's and all have been cloned but replaced in a few days.
Some of the WIFI readers are not secure, so take care on these.

Texanbrazil wrote:

Never have used debit for purchases and never had an issue.
Did have minor charges made on a US CC and quickly got the adjustment.
If I need to buy something, just use the bank and withdraw the cash.
After a while, you may get approved for your bank CC. (Yes they offered me one when I open the account for R$400!, No thanks!)
After 3-4 years they want to give me a CC, no charge. Said no thanks. I guess they wanted to know my history.
Now BH has 3 CC's and all have been cloned but replaced in a few days.
Some of the WIFI readers are not secure, so take care on these.

I used my US cards to withdraw cash from ATMs only, and then used that cash to pay for literally everything here. Both of My cards were cloned at the ATMs in these 7 months.  Before that, I've never had my cards cloned in all my life before coming to Brazil.

I am not really looking to get a Brazilian CC as I have US no transaction fee cards. Just wanna use the local brazilian debit card with peace of mind knowing that my money is safe in that brazilian account/card. I was thinking to withdraw my monthly expenses in cash from my US cards in one go, and then deposit that cash in my brazilian bank account and use the debit card to live day by day. I don't like to carry a lot of cash, which I was forced to do for all these months without a local bank account/debit card.

The only ATMs I ever use are in the bank lobbies, where they're under 24 surveillance, and in many locations, locked down at night.  No ATMs in  retail stores or in malls, even the ones that look secure.  All of the cases of cloning in Brazil that I've read about involved readers surreptitiously attached to ATMs that were off bank premises.

I use my Brazilian debit cards for retail purchases and restaurants.  Haven't had any problems yet.

Like Tex and Robal, I've had one US credit card "go bad".  It was the one I used on Amazon Brazil, but also for other online purchases. The charges were all in the US, so the card could have been snagged by a crook anywhere; the bank caught it immediately, canceled and reissued.

Like many here, I transfer the funds for my expenses from my US account to my Brazilian account monthly using TransferWise.  It's a lot harder for a crook to clone your US card if the card never goes into a Brazilian ATM.

As for how fraud response works in Brazil, the best thing you can do is to sit down with a manager now that you have a banking relationship, and ask him or her about it.  Not only is it probably a little different at each bank, but doing that will make you someone that the people at the bank know, and give you a go-to person if a problem arises.  In this high-touch culture, that's valuable.

Sorry that your initial experience was so bad.  Best of luck in the future.

One  more option that's available to you now that you have a bank account:  we use our bank's cellular and PC apps (Banco do Brasil in our case, but they all have them) to pay all  of our bills electronically, and electronic transfers from the app to pay most services, like home repairs.  It reduces the need for cash, keeps us out of bank lines and Loterias, and we only go to ATMs when we're short on walking-around money.

Thank you. How does the wire transfer from US bank to Brazil works? Are normal brazilian accounts even allowed to receive international wire transfers or needs to inform the bank? Are their any incoming charges involved and how do they convert the USD to Brazil?

Each bank in the US may use different wire processes.
Some US banks do not charge for transfers if you have a certain amount held in the bank. Others do charge a fee,
You need to read (or some have "chat") and ask questions as to the exchange system used.
BR banks accept wire transfers and do charge a fee to process.
They only another way is to bring in money and exchange in BR. Must declare when entering over R$ 10000. May not get a good exchange rate in BR.
Most US accounts are insured. BR not many. I avoid having large sums held in BR.

Your profile says you´re a Pakistani expat in Thailand. You have US credit cards. You have a Brazilian CRNM. That doesn´t well add up...

robal

robal wrote:

Your profile says you´re a Pakistani expat in Thailand. You have US credit cards. You have a Brazilian CRNM. That doesn´t well add up...

robal

I'm a globe trotter hailing from Pakistan. Created this profile once I was in Thailand. I've Visited and lived in many countries including the US, Europe and Asia. I got bank accounts and no foreign transaction fee cards from Schwab during my times in the US  . Currently in Brazil since last 7 months and using those cards to fund my stay here. I had a baby born here in Brazil, thus got a CRNM. Hope it answers all your curiosity.

If you were still in the US, Asia, or Europe, HSBC has the premiere account. No ATM charges and refunds charges. Free wire international. (Bank in BR will charge a small fee on transfers).
Not knowledgeable on CS bank.
BB, Santander, and other banks in BR are not affiliated with counterparts in BR.

Texanbrazil wrote:

If you were still in the US, Asia, or Europe, HSBC has the premiere account. No ATM charges and refunds charges. Free wire international. (Bank in BR will charge a small fee on transfers).
Not knowledgeable on CS bank.
BB, Santander, and other banks in BR are not affiliated with counterparts in BR.

As mentioned, I hold Charles Schwab accounts and there's no fee to make a domestic/international wire transfer and their ATMs are fee free as well, and even reimbursing foreign ATM charges. I mostly use Banco24horas ATMs as they are ever present in most of the Malls nearby me. They charge fees for each withdrawal which Schwab quickly refunds me as well. And two of these Schwab ATMs were cloned during my 7 month stay of which Schwab quickly reimbursed me as well for the unauthorized transactions.

As now I have a brazilian brand new bank account, I could have sent myself a wire transfer to this local account each month and then use the bank apps and the local debit card to fund my stay without having to run to ATMs many times each month as I've been doing all these months. But my worry was what happens if this cloning happened to my local card as well. Would I be reimbured as quickly and pain free as with the US bank?  Thus the reason to open this thead to ask people about it.

As said in #3
Now BH has 3 CC's and all have been cloned but replaced in a few days. 3 different banks and cards were replaced in a short time.
Some of the WIFI readers are not secure, so take care of these.

Sounds good as to CS. Same as HSBC