Money in Brazil: the Card Is the Default, the Cash Is the Backup

The most common piece of Brazil preparation is also the least necessary one: getting hold of cash. Travellers arrive with an envelope of dollars or euros they mean to change, and discover on day three that they have not touched it. Brazil runs on cards, and more thoroughly than most of Europe does.

Short answer: you can pay by card almost everywhere in Brazil, restaurants included. Bring a little cash as a reserve, but only a little, since around 50 euros' worth covers an entire trip. Do not change money at home, because withdrawing here is cheaper. Tipping is usually 10 percent and usually already on the bill.

Do you need cash in Brazil?

Barely. Cards work almost everywhere, and food is always payable by card.

This is where most visitors' preparation and Brazilian reality miss each other. People arrive having learned that cash is the safe default and the card is what sometimes works. In Brazil it is the other way round: the card is the default, from the restaurant to the kiosk to the excursion, and cash is what you keep for the rare remainder.

In practice that means you do not plan a trip around money. You settle which card you will use before you fly, and that was the whole preparation.

Why Brazil is more card-normal than home

Because the country moved to cashless payment earlier and more completely.

What matters for you is only the consequence, and it is a pleasant one. There is hardly ever the moment where someone waves the card away and you find yourself hunting for a machine. Whatever habits you brought from travelling in southern Europe do not transfer here.

The reverse holds too. Anyone determined to pay for everything in cash makes the trip harder than it needs to be and carries money they will not spend.

Which card should you bring?

One with sensible foreign exchange rates. We have had very good experiences with Wise and recommend the card for that reason.

This is not a paid mention and we earn nothing from it. It is simply what we and our guests use, and the difference against an ordinary credit card with a foreign transaction fee adds up noticeably over two or three weeks.

Bring a second card as a backup, from a different bank, stored separately. That is not Brazil advice, it applies anywhere, but it is the one genuine point of failure in an otherwise uncomplicated system.

Cash: how much, and where from

Around 50 euros' or dollars' worth for the whole trip. Not per week, for the whole trip.

And get it here rather than at home. Do not bring cash to exchange, which is the most expensive way to end up holding Brazilian reais. Withdrawing from a machine is cheaper, and since you barely need cash anyway, a single withdrawal covers most trips.

The cash is for the gaps: a tip you want to hand over, a stall without a terminal, a local fee. It is a reserve, not a payment method.

Tipping in Brazil

Usually 10 percent, and usually already printed on the bill.

This is the practical question we are asked most often, and the answer is pleasantly short. In a restaurant, look at the bill. If service is itemised, it is done. If it is not, 10 percent is the order of magnitude. What guides, drivers and porters get is in our guide to tipping and etiquette.

Where money does become a subject

Three places, and all three are small.

• Local fees at natural sites. In Bonito, for instance, there is a conservation charge of 15 BRL per visitor per day, paid locally at the sites and not part of our price. This is exactly what the cash reserve is for.
• Genuinely remote stretches. On a Pantanal fazenda or an Amazon riverboat there is simply little to buy. Our fazenda days in the southern Pantanal are full board, and you will get through them spending very little.
• What stays in dollars. Some third-party fees are charged in US dollars and should be read that way, which is why we quote them in dollars rather than converting them into a number that will be wrong by the time you travel.

What is not a cash question at all is us. Our trips are invoiced and paid before you fly. What you spend on the ground is drinks, things to take home and the small items above, and our two-week Brazil itinerary shows what sits inside a trip price and what is listed separately.

Summary FAQ

Do you need cash in Brazil? Barely. Cards work almost everywhere, restaurants included. Around 50 euros' worth as a reserve covers a whole trip, and that cash is for tips, small local fees and the occasional stall without a terminal.

Can you pay by card everywhere in Brazil? Almost everywhere, and far more routinely than in most of Europe. Brazil moved to cashless payment earlier and more completely, so having a card refused is the exception rather than something to plan around.

Should you bring cash to exchange? No. Bringing cash to change is the most expensive way to end up with reais. Withdraw from a machine once you are here, which is cheaper, and a single withdrawal covers most trips.

Which card works best in Brazil? One with sensible foreign exchange rates. We have had very good experiences with Wise and use it ourselves. Bring a second card from a different bank as a backup and keep the two separate.

How much do you tip in Brazil? Usually 10 percent, and usually it is already on the bill. In a restaurant, check whether service is itemised. If it is, the matter is settled.

What does the trip itself cost, and how is it paid? The trip price is invoiced and paid before you fly, so it is not a cash question. What a Brazil trip costs is worked through in our post on whether Brazil is expensive.

Tell us your dates and the proposal will state what the price includes and which small items are paid locally, before you decide anything. You get a personal, no-obligation quote within 24 hours.