Banking in Sao Paulo

The question is subjective, depends on whether you are just visiting Brazil or plan a long-term move. Having said that the best advice I can give from my 9 years of experience living here is... HSBC, HSBC, HSBC, HSBC.

If you are just visiting Brazil then open an HSBC account in your home country and leave most of funds back home where they are safe. With an HSBC account you have access to international transactions at ANY of the HSBC and affiliated network of ATM machines thoughout Brazil. Otherwise, you can only conduct international transactions through specific ATMs located only in major branches of Banco do Brasil. This can prove very frustrating and time consuming. Worse still, you take an hour or more to get to a Banco do Brasil branch only to find that their system is down....... really annoying.

If you are making a long-term move to Brazil you will need a permanent visa, RNE and CPF in order to open a bank account here. So in practice the home country HSBC account is still probably your best bet.

If you have all the requirements to open a bank account in Brazil then shop around for the lowest service charges and best services. Interest rates are the same wherever you go. Services at the retail banks in Brazil are comparable to those at banks worldwide.

Be extra careful about bank card cloning, PIN numbers, etc... Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that permits direct internet and ATM transfers or deposits to the bank accounts of other individuals. This is an open invitation to being wiped out by thieves who clone your bank card or scam your personal banking information on the internet and then empty out your bank account before you are even aware that you have been victimized.