All banks and "cambios exchange" recognised travellers cheques and foreign currency. There is an extensive network of ATMs around the country. The US Dollar is the most popular foreign currency.

Most large bank offices and hotels in bigger Brazilian cities have a foreign section where you can change money at the slightly lower tourism rate, but sometimes this may involve a bit of time-wasting bureaucracy. You will need your passport to change money and US dollar is currency to be exchanged in Brazil. Be aware of it can be almost impossible to change money weekends, especially in the interior. It can be advisable already upon arrival to go to the exchange office and/or to the cash dispensers at the International airports. Notice that most cash dispensers have adhesive "Visa" and "MasterCard" decals, but there are just some of them that are possible to make transactions with foreign credit cards. The Brazilian currency 'Real' can not be changed outside of Brazil. When leaving Brazil, change the local currency for dollar before you pass the passport and airport security controls. The other side is an international restricted area and there you cannot change 'Real', and all purchases are in US dollar.

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