Currency Converter

How are rates fetched?

We pull the rates from open.er-api.com, which serves free quotes updated once a day. For informational conversions, they do the job.

Need real-time rates by the second? That's where paid APIs like Fixer.io or OpenExchangeRates come in. And banks usually add extra spreads that won't show up here.

The rate lookup goes straight from your browser to the API.

How an exchange rate is formed

A currency exchange rate is the price of one currency expressed in another. Like any price, it is determined by supply and demand in a global, decentralized market that runs twenty-four hours a day across financial centers like London, New York, Tokyo, Singapore and Sao Paulo. When investors, exporters, tourists or central banks buy more of a given currency than they sell, it rises; when they sell more, it falls. Daily turnover in the FX market exceeds seven trillion US dollars, the largest and most liquid market in the world.

Several factors push supply and demand. Interest rate differentials matter: when a country raises rates, carry-trade flows strengthen its currency. Persistent inflation works the other way, eroding purchasing power. Trade balance, foreign direct investment, capital outflows, political risk and commodity prices (oil, iron ore, soy) also feed into the equation, especially for commodity-linked currencies like the Brazilian real or the Canadian dollar. Monetary policy is the heaviest single lever: central banks set the policy rate and can intervene by selling reserves or auctioning swaps. Comments from policymakers and macro releases (CPI, payrolls, GDP) can move rates by full percentage points within minutes.

PTAX commercial vs. tourist rate in Brazil

In Brazil there is no single official rate for retail. The most cited reference is the PTAX, a weighted average of interbank transactions calculated by the Central Bank of Brazil from four daily queries to FX dealers between 10:00 and 13:10. The PTAX is used to settle derivatives, taxes and contracts indexed to foreign currency, but ordinary people do not transact at the PTAX.

Two retail variants matter day to day. The commercial rate is used in imports, exports and wire transfers and tracks the interbank market closely. The tourist rate is the one quoted in bureaus, airports and bank branches when individuals buy banknotes, prepaid cards or send money abroad. The tourist rate is consistently three to six percent more expensive because it embeds operating costs, cash logistics and the dealer’s margin. On top comes the IOF, whose unified 3.5 percent rate applies to remittances, cash, international debit and credit cards, prepaid travel cards and traveler’s cheques. The total cost of buying a thousand US dollars in cash is therefore the commercial rate plus the spread plus the IOF, easily eight to ten percent above the screen rate.

ISO 4217: the three-letter language of currencies

Every currency is identified by a three-letter code from ISO 4217, published since 1978 and maintained by SIX Group. The first two letters come from the ISO 3166-1 country code and the third is usually the initial of the currency. Thus USD is United States dollar, BRL is Brazilian real, GBP is pound sterling, JPY is Japanese yen, CHF is Swiss franc (Confoederatio Helvetica), CAD is Canadian dollar, AUD is Australian dollar, CNY is Chinese yuan and ARS is Argentine peso. Supranational currencies and metals get codes starting with X: EUR is the euro, XAU is gold and XAG is silver. These codes eliminate ambiguity: the word dollar refers to more than twenty currencies. Using the ISO code in receipts, contracts and SWIFT messages avoids costly mistakes.

Where to buy or send currency: banks, bureaus and fintechs

Traditional banks are the most common channel for international wire transfers and cash at the counter, but tend to be the most expensive. Their tourist rate carries a wide spread plus fixed SWIFT fees and intermediary bank charges. Specialised bureaus often beat banks on cash and prepaid cards but still charge more than online channels.

Fintech platforms like Wise, Remessa Online, Nomad, C6 Global and Avenue have lowered the cost of cross-border transfers dramatically. They advertise the commercial mid-market rate (close to PTAX) and charge a transparent fee: fixed amount plus a percentage. Wise uses the real interbank rate and discloses the fee before confirmation; Remessa Online specialises in transfers to and from Brazil; Nomad and Avenue focus on multicurrency and US-dollar investment accounts. For prepaid travel cards, Wise Card and Nomad let you hold dollars or euros and spend at the locked-in rate.

Taxation: IOF, income tax and FX gains

In Brazil the IOF (Imposto sobre Operacoes Financeiras) is the main tax on foreign exchange. After the 2025 unification, most retail operations pay 3.5 percent: remittances to third parties, remittances to your own account abroad, cash purchases, international credit and debit card spending, prepaid travel cards and traveler’s cheques. Foreign direct investment outflows and certain capital remittances pay 1.1 percent. Historically the rates were lower (0.38 percent for current account, 1.1 percent for cash, 6.38 percent for credit card), so always check the current decree before a large operation.

Income tax (IR) also applies to FX capital gains. Selling dollars at a rate higher than purchase makes the gain taxable at 15 to 22.5 percent if monthly sales exceed 35,000 reais. Foreign investments and dividends fall under the offshore-income regime introduced in 2024. Keep records of every conversion: rate, date and amount in reais.

Using the converter well

• Treat the rate shown here as the reference (close to commercial mid-market). The actual price you pay at a bank or bureau will include a spread plus IOF.
• For trips, compare the prepaid travel card rate with credit card spending. Credit cards have a 3.5 percent IOF and the rate is set on the closing day, which can be a few days after the purchase; prepaid cards lock the rate when loaded.
• For large remittances (above ten thousand reais), always compare at least three providers: a major bank, Wise and Remessa Online or Nomad. Differences of one to two percent are common and add up.
• Avoid airport exchange bureaus: their spread is the worst in the market because they capture last-minute, captive demand.
• Watch the time of day. Cotacao varies during the session; converting on a quiet morning often beats converting after big macro releases.

Frequently asked questions

Is the rate shown here the same one I will pay at the bank? No. Live converters use mid-market or close to commercial quotes. Retail prices include a dealer spread (usually 1 to 5 percent), the IOF (3.5 percent for most operations) and possibly fixed fees, so the all-in price is several percent higher.

What is PTAX exactly? It is the reference rate calculated by the Central Bank of Brazil from four interbank surveys between 10:00 and 13:10. It is used to settle derivatives and tax conversions; ordinary buyers do not transact at PTAX.

Is paying in BRL abroad better than the local currency? Almost never. When the merchant offers Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) in BRL, the rate they apply is much worse than your card’s rate. Always choose to pay in the local currency.

Why do JPY values look so large? One Brazilian real is roughly thirty yen, so one thousand reais converts to about thirty thousand yen. The yen has a low nominal value per unit but is one of the most traded currencies in the world.

All conversions here are for reference only and do not constitute financial advice. For binding quotes contact your bank, exchange bureau or licensed remittance provider.