Paying and receiving Brazilian reais: Pix, TED and the FX rules

Brazil has a large pool of developers, designers and support staff working for companies abroad, and one of the best domestic payment systems in the world. Inside Brazil, money moves in seconds. Bringing it in from abroad follows stricter rules than most countries, and that shapes how you pay Brazilian contractors and suppliers.

How Brazilian payments work

Pix keys

A Pix payment goes to a key registered to the account:

• CPF (individual tax ID) or CNPJ (company tax ID)
• email address
• phone number
• a random key generated by the bank

Payers can also scan a Pix QR code. Before confirming, the payer sees the recipient's name, which catches errors.

The FX rules

Brazil does not let reais be bought and sold freely offshore. Converting foreign currency to reais must go through institutions authorised by the Banco Central do Brasil, under the country's foreign exchange framework, which was modernised by a law that took effect in 2023. Every conversion carries a purpose classification.

IOF, a federal tax on financial operations, applies to many foreign exchange transactions. The rate depends on the type of operation, and the converting institution usually collects it.

Paying Brazilian contractors from abroad

Keep a contract, an invoice and the payment record for each payment. The international contractors guide covers the paperwork, and bulk payments covers paying a team at once.

BRL on Rivet

Rivet lets a company pay Brazilian accounts in reais from its USD balance, with the rate and fee shown before you confirm. On Scale, a company can also hold and convert BRL beside its other balances. See Payouts and Pricing.