I have nos problems using my U.S. issued debit cards at the ATMs. Of course all the ATMs I can find in this part of Brazil are owned by Banco do Brasil, and they charge R$24 for each withdrawal and have a limit of R$1,000 per transaction.
When I try to use these cards at the store for POS purchases they do not work. I have contacted my banks, and they have forwarded the case to Mastercard . They asked me to record the date and time of the attempted transaction, including the name of the merchant, the address, and the decline message, and I have done that. Mastercard says they are not seeing any attempt to use the cards at POS.
I suspect Banco do Brasil is somehow blocking the use of these cards so the only way I can buy anything in Brasil is by using their ATMs and charging the high transaction fees.
Anyone else experiencing the same thing?