Commercial
buy–sell–
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What search engines show. Banks and services start from it and add their spread.
Dollar
For whoever is paid in dollars and lives in reais: the rates that matter, with the time of each, and how much each service really leaves you.
Rates
PTAX
buy–sell–
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Carnê-leão, …
buy–
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The rates did not load. Try again in a few minutes.
How much arrives
Type the final rate each service shows you, the one with its spread and the IOF already in, and its fees, if it charges any. It stays in this browser for next month.
- at the commercial rate
- –
- at the PTAX
- –
ServiceFinal rate (R$)Fee (%)Fee (US$)ArrivesCostRemove
Cost is what is left behind next to the commercial buying rate.
Sources: Banco Central (PTAX), AwesomeAPI (commercial).
How to compare remittance services
If you live in Brazil and get paid in US dollars, the number that matters is how many reais reach your account.
- Type how many dollars you are receiving or converting.
- On each line, put the name of the service and the final rate it shows before you close the exchange, the one with its spread and the IOF already in it. Brazilian services call it the VET, the total effective value.
- If the service charges a fee on top, as a percentage or in dollars, fill in its column.
The line of the service that leaves the most reais is marked as the best one. The cost of each is what is left behind next to the commercial buying rate, the reference price for someone selling dollars.
Which USD to BRL rate to look at
- Commercial rate: the number Google shows. Good for knowing whether it is a good day, but no service converts at it.
- PTAX: the Banco Central’s official rate, published every business day around 1 pm. Before that, the page shows the latest partial bulletin of the day.
- Carnê-leão: the PTAX buying rate that applies to the Brazilian income tax on what you receive from abroad this month.
Why the number changes from one site to the next
Each site takes the rate from a different source at a different time, and some show the selling rate instead of the buying one. Someone paid in dollars is selling dollars, so the reference is the buying rate. Street exchange offices sell cash, which has a rate of its own, the tourism dollar.
Questions
- Why is the rate on Google different from what my bank pays?
- Google shows the commercial rate, the price between banks, sometimes with a delay. No service converts at it. Each adds its spread, charges fees and, for some operations, the IOF tax. That is why what is worth comparing is how much arrives in your account.
- What is the difference between the commercial rate and the PTAX?
- The commercial rate changes by the minute while the market is open. The PTAX is an average the Banco Central works out from four rounds of quotes from the banks, at 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm and 1 pm Brasília time, and publishes once a day. It is the official rate, used in contracts and for income tax.
- Which rate goes in the carnê-leão?
- For income a person receives from abroad, the PTAX buying rate of the last business day of the first half of the month before the payment. A salary received in October, for example, takes the PTAX buying rate of September 15, or of the last business day before it. The page shows that rate for the current month.
- Do the rates update by themselves?
- Yes. Your browser fetches them straight from the Banco Central and the AwesomeAPI when the page opens, and again every 5 minutes while it stays open. Each rate shows the time it is from, so you know whether the number is current.
- Is what I type in the simulation sent anywhere?
- No. The amount and the services are kept in your browser only, so you do not have to type them again next month. The page may only fetch the rates from their two sources, and nothing you type goes along.
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Made by Ronaldo Sena, a developer in Uberlândia, Brazil, who also writes about code and chess on the blog.