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Banks and money

Bank account, Pix and deposit protection

How a foreigner opens an account in Brazil, what Pix is, the banks and neobanks, the Serasa Score, FGC deposit insurance and what to do when a bank refuses.

You need a bank account in Brazil almost at once: for Pix, renting, paying utilities and state fees. Below is what residents report about accounts for foreigners, plus the official deposit-protection rules. If you have not sorted out your papers yet, start with the CPF and the RNM.

Checked on 8 October 2026. Banks' terms change and depend on the branch: figures in the posts are as of the stated date.

In short

  • Pix is instant transfers by a "key" (CPF, phone, e-mail or a random code). A key is tied to one account.
  • A traditional bank most often opens an account once you have residence; in December 2024 Itaú opened an account on a passport, a CPF and a PF protocol, before the RNM card had arrived.
  • Deposits are insured by the FGC: up to R$ 250,000 per person per bank and up to R$ 1,000,000 over four years.
  • If a bank ignores a request, a complaint to the Central Bank (BACEN) in practice speeds up the reply.

Pix

Pix is the national instant payment system, similar to Russia's SBP. It is accepted almost everywhere. To receive money you need an account at a bank or in a financial app with a registered key. The key can be a CPF, a phone number, an e-mail or a random code. A key is unique and tied to only one account: if you have two banks, each needs its own key (post, 25.12.2024).

Some payments go only through Pix or a local card: electricity and gas bills, state fees, rent. A foreign Visa/Mastercard is accepted in shops almost everywhere, but for the author it sometimes failed at Itaú terminals; when renting a car, the deposit can be blocked only on a credit card, and the local debit card did not work. A virtual credit card from the fintech InfinitePay saved the author (post, 28.12.2024, post, 29.12.2024).

Which banks there are

The five biggest: the private Itaú Unibanco, Bradesco and Santander Brasil, and the state-owned Banco do Brasil and Caixa Econômica. The @brazil_lifehacks author thinks there is no fundamental difference: take whichever branch is closer, and make sure you are not put on a paid tariff (post, 12.12.2024). Besides these there are neobanks without branches: Nubank, Inter, C6, Mercado Pago.

How to open an account

  • Itaú, December 2024: a passport, a CPF and a PF protocol; there was no local ID yet. It took about an hour at the branch, and in the end they issued a card and registered Pix (post, 23.12.2024).
  • Santander, January 2023: refused the first time without proof of income; a three-month statement from another bank helped, and the account was opened on the second visit (post, 24.01.2023).
  • Without residence: you can get an account only at a fintech, for example InfinitePay (a CPF and a local number are needed). The author advises keeping small amounts there: a second account in his family was blocked right after registration with no explanation (post, 25.12.2024). Reports on the same practice at the iti Itaú and PicPay apps differ: in 2022 they were blocked without an RNM, in 2023 the author could not check (post, 20.04.2022, post, 17.07.2023).
  • Refusal without a reason: the neobank C6 refused the author for three years citing a "credit rating"; the account was opened after a complaint on the ReclameAQUI service (post, 12.08.2025).

A refusal by a bank or carrier may be because of your CPF status: see CPF.

Serasa Score

Serasa is a credit bureau. Companies that sell services on instalments or post-payment (rent, mortgages, internet, SIM cards) look at your Serasa Score on a scale of 0–1000: up to 300 very low, 301–500 low, 501–700 good, above 700 excellent. Register on the Serasa website in advance. If it does not work, the most common reason is that your CPF has not been updated to a Brazilian address: update the record at the Receita Federal and try again in a week. The score goes up with no debts and bills paid on time (post, 23.02.2024).

Deposits, FGC and investments

The FGC (Fundo Garantidor de Créditos) guarantees payment of up to R$ 250,000 per CPF in one bank or banking group, and the overall ceiling across several failures within four years is R$ 1,000,000 (official page). A channel author had bought certificates of deposit (CDB) of Banco Master worth a few thousand reais: after the bank's bankruptcy in November 2025 he registered on the FGC website, added the broker account where he had bought the CDB, and the money came back to his account about six months later, in May 2026 (post, 22.11.2025, post, 09.05.2026).

You can move investments from one bank to another through the "Portabilidade" section of the B3 exchange website in one to two days; all your holdings are visible there too (post, 27.05.2026).

If the bank does not respond

In February 2026 a channel author spent two weeks failing to get a higher limit on outgoing payments (the rule says 48 hours). He filed a complaint with the Central Bank and forwarded the protocol to the bank: the limit was raised at once. After a complaint the bank has to give an official answer (post, 04.02.2026).

Sources

Official:

Personal experience (channels @russo_no_brasil and @brazil_lifehacks, in Russian):