Cambios

[Tomcal]

I have always used my Gold Citibank Debit card to access cash daily from their ATM’s in both Ipanema and Copacabana, i got the official rate plus no charges, but several months ago Citibank closed their Brazilian operations. Where do you recommend i exchange Dollars for Reais? thanks

[Gotti]

The only bank that I can think of that has operations in both US and Brazil is Satander, in this case they have branches in New York and maybe elsewhere in the US, they are all over the place in Brazil. I used to get to my Chase account in the Brazilian branches of Citybank, they had some kind of agreement, but I had to pay a fee, as a matter of fact two fees, both City and Chase charge me for the operation (not funny), now I don't know what I can possibly do, since City is not in Brazil anymore. I have no idea if Satander customers in the US can do any banking at Brazilian branches and what kind of fee they are charged, if any. 

[Tartegogo]

HSBC and Bradesco have an agreement. I paid no fees and had very good exchange rate when withdrawing from Bradesco using my HSBC debit card  

Sorry, that is only useful if you have an HSBC bank account somewhere in the world. I guess Tom you are after a cash cambio kiosk? 

[ferrar]

On 7/29/2018 at 10:37 PM, Tomcal said:

I have always used my Gold Citibank Debit card to access cash daily from their ATM’s in both Ipanema and Copacabana, i got the official rate plus no charges, but several months ago Citibank closed their Brazilian operations. Where do you recommend i exchange Dollars for Reais? thanks

You'd think that Itau would have entered into some kind of business arrangement with Citi.   After all, they were the successful bidders for Citi's entire retail operation in the country.   Not the case however.  Major incompatibility and fee issues!

I have the identical type of card as yourself, and found, surprisingly, that Bradesco offers -  fee-free -  the wholesale rate for this card.  So zero change from the now extinct Citi-branded ATM's.   Just make sure of course that you only use an ATM with the Cirrus sticker.   

[Tomcal]

the other thing is Citi let’s me have $2,000. a day.  Brandesco was $800.R per day.... i usually go over that...actually not usually i always do! :-)

[floridarob]

Travel agencies are known to have good exchange rates....also at the airport, the skycaps give decent rate, but they do it secretly, usually have to find a stairwell to hide in while they do it, lol

[ferrar]

Believe me I would also have an issue with a R$ 800 daily limit LOL.   But  - thankfully - at least lately Bradesco does not appear to have that restriction!   There is a R$ 1000 withdrawal option that you can choose from,  and it does allow for multiple withdrawals in that amount in separate transactions,  as Citi here used to allow.  I  did this today.   So it's probably just a Citi limit on their (now) non-Citi ATM's here  that you can easily get raised.

[skipjack]

I always use Charles Schwab for my foreign ATM withdrawals, @Tomcal. Official rate + no transaction fees + unlimited reimbursement for ATM fees charged by any other bank worldwide. No minimum balance, no monthly fees. I can ACH funds into my Schwab account from any other bank and it's available in 3 business days.

If I remember correctly, they start the debit card with a limit of $500 but you can request it be increased to $1,000 without any argument. Depending what other business you have with them, you may have success convincing them to increase it higher than that.

It can take a little time to setup, so I wouldn't count on it for trips in the very near future, but if you've got a couple weeks or want to set it up for future trips, it's worth it.

[Gotti]

Precious information above, seems too good to be true, but I will certainly inquire about, if played as described, salvation!

[Latbear4blk]

May I ask why so much cash is needed? I understand we need the papers to pay to the boys. I hope everything else can be paid with plastic.

 

[Tartegogo]

59 minutes ago, Latbear4blk said:

May I ask why so much cash is needed? I understand we need the papers to pay to the boys. I hope everything else can be paid with plastic.

 

You haven’t followed properly, @Latbear4blk, but if I understand well, Tom likes to be surrounded by 4 boys, which are at at least R. $ 300 each per overnight. 

[Riobard]

That is an ideal exchange situation ... money you can't take with you can be taken within you. 

[skipjack]

Yeah, I pretty much never max out my limit @Latbear4blk, especially in countries where the exchange rate is so much in my favor. I use a no foreign transaction fee credit card whenever possible and prefer to keep spare cash in my pocket to a minimum.

Even if you're only taking out a relatively small amount of cash out at a time, a no fee situation can save you a decent amount of money. For instance, taking $100 USD out of a foreign ATM as a Chase customer will cost you more than $10.50 ($2.50 non-Chase ATM fee + 5% foreign transaction fee + $3 flat foreign transaction fee + whatever fee the ATM itself charges). Eliminating those fees also means you can be safer and withdrawal cash as needed rather than take it all out at once in an effort to minimize your fees thus exposing you to more theft risk.

[Tomcal]

2 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

May I ask why so much cash is needed? I understand we need the papers to pay to the boys. I hope everything else can be paid with plastic.

 

i pay for most things like meals, my apt in Rio, sauna costs in cash, plus the boys .  That way i know how much i am spending every day vs a credit card which for me is harder to keep track of my daily spending

[Lucky]

Tom, I have the ATM/debit card from First Republic Bank. There are no ATM charges, period. I don't pay the foreign bank's ATM charges either. First Republic does. So I can use the card to my heart's content, and it only costs me my own money that I take out to spend on Brazilian guys with fat, hard cocks, waiting to release their buckets of cum.

[tassojunior]

My last trip to Prague I discovered I was not only being hit with fees from both my bank and the Czech bank in spite of them being "associated" but I also was getting a worse exchange rate (22/1 vs 24/1) than the no-fee money exchange next to my hotel. I always carry 30 $100 bills for emergencies anyway and from now on I'm just going to carry more and find the best cash exchange. "Associated" and "fee-free" seem to have technical meanings different than common ones. 

If Facebook Messenger payments would go international or if PayPal payments didn't take 3 days internationally I could pay guys overseas like I do here. They don't like trips to make bank deposits either. Better yet, RentMen and Hunqz could make a fortune connecting with Square or some payment service for a cut. And guys who take cards would make a lot more. PayPal made eBay.  

Although a newbie client with a new credit card in Rio or Prague might be in trouble. 

[SolaceSoul]

On 7/31/2018 at 12:44 PM, tassojunior said:

My last trip to Prague I discovered I was not only being hit with fees from both my bank and the Czech bank in spite of them being "associated" but I also was getting a worse exchange rate (22/1 vs 24/1) than the no-fee money exchange next to my hotel. I always carry 30 $100 bills for emergencies anyway and from now on I'm just going to carry more and find the best cash exchange. "Associated" and "fee-free" seem to have technical meanings different than common ones. 

If Facebook Messenger payments would go international or if PayPal payments didn't take 3 days internationally I could pay guys overseas like I do here. They don't like trips to make bank deposits either. Better yet, RentMen and Hunqz could make a fortune connecting with Square or some payment service for a cut. And guys who take cards would make a lot more. PayPal made eBay.  

Although a newbie client with a new credit card in Rio or Prague might be in trouble. 

You might not be aware, but many younger people internationally are now using CashApp and Venmo, which have options for receiving money instantly for between 1% - 3% of the transaction amount. The problem with these, like PayPal, Zelle or GooglePay, is that it requires a link to a valid bank account (debit, credit or otherwise) in order to send or receive. Many working boys in Latin America don’t have bank accounts. I have several trophy boys in Brazil and the DR who use CashApp or Venmo, but most are still stuck on Western Union transfers — which basically translates to being stuck on stupid.

[tassojunior]

7 hours ago, SolaceSoul said:

You might not be aware, but many younger people internationally are now using CashApp and Venmo, which have options for receiving money instantly for between 1% - 3% of the transaction amount. The problem with these, like PayPal, Zelle or GooglePay, is that it requires a link to a valid bank account (debit, credit or otherwise) in order to send or receive. Many working boys in Latin America don’t have bank accounts. I have several trophy boys in Brazil and the DR who use CashApp or Venmo, but most are still stuck on Western Union transfers — which basically translates to being stuck on stupid.

I have seen Venmo and I'm going to tell my Czech regulars to get it. 

[pauleiro]

On 7/31/2018 at 9:10 AM, Tartegogo said:

You haven’t followed properly, @Latbear4blk, but if I understand well, Tom likes to be surrounded by 4 boys, which are at at least R. $ 300 each per overnight. 

Lol. So true ! 

[skipjack]

On 7/31/2018 at 4:44 PM, tassojunior said:

Better yet, RentMen and Hunqz could make a fortune connecting with Square or some payment service for a cut. And guys who take cards would make a lot more.

It'll never happen cause the risk profile of an adult services business is astronomical. People like to dispute those charges, a lot. Most banks won't work with adult businesses at all. The ones that do charge huge fees and require a large amount of cash collateral to secure the risk of all the potential chargebacks. Cash app & Venmo work great because the charge doesn't appear on a statement as adult services and Cash/Venmo have no idea what the transaction is for. It avoids a lot of the problems an escort site would have.

[tassojunior]

18 minutes ago, skipjack said:

It'll never happen cause the risk profile of an adult services business is astronomical. People like to dispute those charges, a lot. Most banks won't work with adult businesses at all. The ones that do charge huge fees and require a large amount of cash collateral to secure the risk of all the potential chargebacks. Cash app & Venmo work great because the charge doesn't appear on a statement as adult services and Cash/Venmo have no idea what the transaction is for. It avoids a lot of the problems an escort site would have.

I think I've seen Venmo on sites. I know I've seen escort ads mentioning it. Also adult porn and chat sites take all cards. 

Most of my regulars and would-bes are on my Facebook so if Messenger Pay would just go international I'd have easier trips.

[skipjack]

26 minutes ago, tassojunior said:

I think I've seen Venmo on sites. I know I've seen escort ads mentioning it. Also adult porn and chat sites take all cards. 

Most of my regulars and would-bes are on my Facebook so if Messenger Pay would just go international I'd have easier trips.

Right, Venmo (PayPal) doesn't monitor mentions of Venmo on people's sites. The transactions are person-to-person transfers, not person to high-risk business transfers, and as long as there's not a bunch of disputed charges, Venmo won't know any better. All these cash apps are the same as Venmo in that respect.

Adult sites use the banks which provide high-risk merchant accounts I mentioned in my earlier post, which require huge security deposits ($250k and up, last I heard) and charge exorbitant processing fees (8-12% range). An escort site would then have to tack on considerable processing fees itself to make the hassle and expense of processing client payments worth their while. By the time all is said and done, you could expect the escort's fees to increase by 25% or more just to cover processing costs.

[floridarob]

On 7/31/2018 at 9:43 AM, Tomcal said:

i pay for most things like meals, my apt in Rio, sauna costs in cash, plus the boys .  That way i know how much i am spending every day vs a credit card which for me is harder to keep track of my daily spending

You keep track??

[DutchDork]

This might help, @Tomcal. 

I was in Rio last November and, as always, I withdrew money from my Chase ATM in different occasions through Itau, Bradesco, and even Banco do Brasil. I was charged by the local banks for using their service plus the $5 and 3% Exchange Rate Adjustment by Chase. I was aware of that so it was okay. Then my friend from Dubai joined me a few days after and she brought cash in US dollars. I thought it was a stupid move but nonetheless I helped her find a cambio/foreign exchange. We found one close to the Museum of Tomorrow. I was surprised because I remember checking Oanda.com that day to have a reference on the exchange rate. It was $1 = BRL3.26 that day. The cambio gave her $1 = BRL 3.23 with no commission or any other fees. I was shocked! I thought this was an isolated incident but I tried it again in São Paulo and the rates were still more favourable than making international ATM withdrawals and paying all those fees.