Best Place to Exchange Money in Rio de Janeiro

Where to change money in Rio de Janeiro

No exchange office in Copacabana, Ipanema or Centro passed our two-source test, so this guide names none. Brazil's central bank requires currency exchange to go through institutions it has authorised and keeps a public list of them, so check any bureau's name there first.

• Global Exchange, Galeão (RIOgaleão) Terminal 2 - Buys and sells currency. The desks in public departures (level 2) and public arrivals (level 0) open 24 hours; the one for international departures on the level 1 mezzanine opens 04:00 to 23:00. Rates trail a card withdrawal.
• Bank and Banco24Horas cash machines, Copacabana, Ipanema and Centro - Use one inside a bank branch or shopping centre, in daylight.

Changing money at the airport

Galeão (GIG), run as RIOgaleão, is Rio's international airport. Besides the Global Exchange desks, it lists a 24-hour cash machine point in Terminal 2 arrivals but does not name the bank. Change only enough to reach town.

The metro does not reach the terminals. Transcarioca BRT buses run from the airport to Vicente de Carvalho, where you change to Metro Line 2; the airport quotes R$9.70 for the BRT and metro together and R$5.00 for the BRT alone, with buses daily from 4am to midnight. A special bus to Terminal Gentileza costs R$15.00 (fares can change without notice). Official taxis leave from door A (standard) and door B (executive) on the ground floor, priced by meter or by a city-approved table. The FCDO warns of unlicensed drivers posing as app drivers at airports, so compare the plate and the driver with what the app shows.

ATMs and cards in Rio de Janeiro

A UK Visa or Mastercard debit card is usually the cheapest way to get reais. Banco24Horas, a shared network with more than 24,000 machines across Brazil, says its terminals accept international cards including Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and Cirrus. It says it charges customers nothing itself, leaving any fee to your bank, and publishes no limit for foreign cards, so read the screen before confirming.

The FCDO says card cloning happens at cash machines and in shops, that people have been briefly kidnapped and driven to a machine, and that robberies are common, especially on buses. Use machines inside banks or shopping centres, cover the keypad and carry little cash. If a card terminal offers pounds or reais, choose reais: Which? points out that a bill in pounds leaves the exchange rate to the shop. Pix, the instant-payment system, has no link yet to foreign systems (the central bank was still studying one in August 2026), so rely on cards and a little cash.

Paying for transport in Rio de Janeiro

MetrôRio charges a flat R$7.90 a ride, unchanged for 2026. Turnstile readers accept a tap from Visa, Mastercard and Elo cards and from phones and watches; MetrôRio is silent on foreign-issued cards, so keep a back-up way to pay. Alternatives are a QR ticket from the RecargaPay app, the Giro card (R$11.90 including a refundable R$4.00 deposit) or a Jaé card.

Municipal buses stopped accepting cash on board on 30 May 2026. The fare is R$5. Pay with a Jaé card, which can still be bought and topped up with cash at partner shops and station machines, or a green single-trip card for R$10 (R$5 card plus R$5 fare) from newsstands. The city began phasing in Pix and bank cards at bus validators in June 2026, so check whether the reader takes your card. Cheaper transfers between rides need the black Jaé card, registered to a Brazilian CPF tax number, or the official app.

Good to know

• UK citizens can visit Brazil for tourism for up to 90 days without a visa, and the passport needs at least six months' validity from the day you arrive (FCDO).
• Declare cash worth US$10,000 or more online on entry (FCDO).
• Bills often include a 10% service charge (serviço). Procon-SP, the São Paulo state consumer body, says paying it is optional, and a 2017 law says tips must be passed to staff, so check the bill before tipping again.
• The FCDO advises keeping phones out of sight in the street, especially between 4pm and 9pm, not going on to city beaches after dark, and avoiding all favelas, including organised favela tours.