Citibank charges a fee to use their machines and I think they have a limit on withdrawals of 800Reais.
I have been having some problems lately at various branches of HSBC. When the cash in the machine gets lower(you can tell because the machines list the types of bills that are available to be dispensed, they lower the amount that can be drawn down to 300Reais. Depending on the branch, they have varied limits of 300, 500, 800 or 1000Reais daily.
Bradesco permits international debit card withdrawals with no fee. When I withdrew last week, I went to a different branch and the machine's message was that I was required to "saquer=to withdraw/saque-watchdrawal) from a branchagencia that was Dia E Noite(Day and Night.)
My number one safe move is to do a debit withdrawl from the Banco de Brasil branch inside Galeao airport. They have a guard, totally safe and no fee other than the 3%. In the city, I try to always go to the Banco de Brasil branch in front of Candelaria church during business hours. They have a guard on duty and I feel totally secure their. Also right around the corner from Meio Mundo.
Do not use Santander/24 Horas/Unibanco. They have a similar withdrawal fee as Citibank. And I always feel that Citibank gives a worse rate on the exchange than Banco de Brasil. It is hard to tell unless testing on a same-day basis and then examining your US bank statement.
A few years ago, Citibank was great. I had a US account and could use my debit here to withdraw funds. There was no 3% fee and no fee to withdraw. I think they are at 12Reais/transaction now? HSBC has a saving/investment vehicle with a 75KUS minimum and then there was no 3% transaction fee. I checked last year and that offer is no more. Another shame.
I do have experience with fraud down here. A couple of years ago my debit card was cloned. So I do have experience with what "went wrong" I did so many bad things. I used the branch/agencia of HSBC downtown on Rio Branco at 7AM. No during business hours. There was a guy at the other side of the branch. I was afraid of being robbed. Cloning mycard never entered my thinking. What they did then is have a thin piece of paper with a magnetic strip to read my info. I stuck my card in and it was difficult to slide it in. First hint: THERE WAS ALREADY SOMETHING ELSE IN THERE. Then the screen behaved normally with putting in my password, the amount requested and then THE MACHINE WENT DEAD. So I just thought there was a machine error that shut it down. NOT. I used the adjacent one and left. No problem withdrawing money. Within TWENTY-FIVE minutes my card had been cloned and used at a different HSBC branch. So a couple hints in there for anyone interested. I have been told they now have other manners with remote-sending devices but I am not positive about that.
I just know my current rules are to only perform a withdrawal/saque during business(10AM-4PM) hours at a branch with a guard and no fees. And on weekends and holidays, go to Santos-Dumont Airport, not far from Clube 117 and on the way to Meio Mundo to do withdrawals. Easy to get there there from Zonal Sul via 413, 415 or 455. And a nice not-too-far walk from Cinelandia Metro stop. Besides gander at any action of Praca Floriano or the floor show at Cine Rex.