Send money to Brazil
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Today's best rates to Brazil
As of 21 September 2026, sending £1,000 to Brazil, your recipient gets the most with Revolut: 6,779.19 BRL, the best of 3 providers compared.
| Provider | Rate | Fee | Recipient gets | Speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6.7792 1.54% worse | £0 | 6,779.19 BRL | Within 2 days | Send | |
6.8287 0.82% worse | £9.44 | 6,764.25 BRL | Within 2 days | Send | |
6.4785 5.91% worse | £0 | 6,478.50 BRL | 1–2 days | Send |
Money moving from the UK to Brazil is a mix of family and business: people supporting relatives in São Paulo, Rio or the northeast, Brazilians in the UK sending money home, and firms paying Brazilian suppliers and contractors. Two things make this corridor distinctive: the real is a volatile currency, so timing and the rate matter, and every payment needs the recipient's CPF — Brazil's individual taxpayer number — or it simply won't go through. On cost, a UK high-street bank behaves as it does everywhere, quietly keeping 2–5% of the transfer in a marked-up rate, so on £10,000 you can lose several hundred pounds before an obvious fee. Brazil uses the real, so every transfer converts your pounds — and getting that conversion right is where the money is won or lost.
How to send money to Brazil from the UK
There are three practical ways to move money from the UK to a Brazilian bank account. Nearly all get the money there — the difference is how many reais arrive after the pounds are converted.
Bank transfer
The most familiar option — and consistently the most expensive. UK banks charge a flat fee (often around £20), mark up the rate by 2–5%, and send by SWIFT, which takes 2–5 days. A £1,000 transfer can cost around £60 all in — £20 fee plus a 4% margin.
Money-transfer provider
Specialists — Wise, Currencies Direct, Remitly, XE — exist to beat bank rates, converting to reais at or near the mid-market rate with a small, clear fee. Providers like Remitly and MoneyGram can be fast for family transfers, sometimes minutes.
App or cash pickup
Apps like Wise and Revolut are quick and competitive, and some providers offer near-instant delivery or cash pickup for family. For a business payment into a company account, a specialist paying by bank transfer is usually the right route.
What you need to send money to Brazil
Brazilian bank details and the CPF
You'll need the recipient's full name, their bank and branch (agência), their account number (conta), and the bank's SWIFT/BIC code for the international leg. The critical extra field is the CPF — the recipient's 11-digit individual taxpayer number (or, for a business, the 14-digit CNPJ). It's mandatory: without a valid CPF the payment will usually be rejected, so get it exactly right and matched to the account holder's name.
ID checks and verification
UK providers are legally required to verify who you are before processing a payment (Know Your Customer, under the Money Laundering Regulations). For a first transfer or a modest amount, expect to provide your name, address and date of birth, plus a photo ID and proof of address. Transfers above roughly £8,000 commonly trigger a source-of-funds check (see Tax, below).
How long does it take to send money to Brazil?
Because Brazil uses the real and sits outside the EU, your provider converts your pounds and pays reais into the account. How fast that happens depends far more on the provider than on the destination.
Delays are usually caused by one of: a missing or mismatched CPF, missing the provider's cut-off, first-time identity verification, weekends or Brazilian public holidays, or incorrect recipient details.
Fees and exchange rates for UK to Brazil
A flat fee is easy to compare — the exchange-rate margin usually isn't, which is why it matters more, and the real's volatility makes timing count too. Here's where the cost hides.
The exchange-rate margin
The real cost of most transfers. Banks: 2–5% above the mid-market rate, plus a flat fee. Specialists: often a fraction of a percent. On £10,000+ the gap runs into the hundreds.
Real volatility & timing
The real can move sharply. For a large or dated transfer, a forward contract to lock today's rate can matter more than shaving the fee — ask a specialist about it.
Correspondent-bank fees
Because Brazil is outside the EU, a bank SWIFT wire can pass through intermediary banks that each deduct a cut. Specialists that pay reais locally usually avoid this entirely.
Is it safe to send money to Brazil?
Any UK company handling money transfers must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, and must keep customer money in accounts fully segregated from its own ("safeguarding"). Some smaller firms are only registered as Small Payment Institutions, which aren't required to safeguard the same way — so a 30-second check on the FCA Register before you send an unfamiliar firm anything is time well spent.
Supplier / "new bank details" fraud
Rule: paying a Brazilian supplier is a common target for invoice fraud. If bank details or a CPF "change" just before payment, confirm by phone on a number you already had — never one from the email.
Romance & "urgent need" scams
Rule: be wary of anyone met online who, over time, builds trust and then needs money urgently. Never send to someone you haven't met in person, however convincing the story.
"Better rate" cold-call / clone firm
Rule: a firm that calls out of the blue with an unbeatable rate may be a clone of a real one. Check it on the FCA Register and call back on the number listed there, not the one you were given.
Check the firm is regulated
Rule: FCA-authorised firms must keep your money separate from their own, so it's protected if the firm fails. Look the firm up on register.fca.org.uk before you commit.
Report fraud: Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or at actionfraud.police.uk (in Scotland, Police Scotland on 101).
Tax on money sent to Brazil
Moving your own money
Sending your own, already-taxed money from the UK to Brazil is not a UK taxable event — there's no tax simply for transferring it, and no requirement to report a personal transfer to HMRC. If it's business income, that income is still subject to UK tax as normal. Larger transfers commonly prompt a source-of-funds request, so keep the paperwork showing where the money came from.
Watch-out: gifts and Brazilian reporting
If it's a gift, it can affect UK Inheritance Tax on your estate if you die within seven years. On the Brazil side, larger incoming transfers (broadly over R$10,000) are automatically reported to Brazil's Federal Revenue Service — that's a Brazilian reporting rule, separate from UK tax, and worth flagging to your recipient.
How do most people send money to Brazil?
For most families and businesses, the cheapest route is a specialist currency company or app that converts your pounds to reais and pays straight into a Brazilian account — not a UK high-street bank whose SWIFT wire adds a 2–5% rate markup, a flat fee, and days of delay. Make sure you have the recipient's CPF exactly right, and for a large or dated move consider a forward contract given the real's volatility. Whichever you choose, judge it by the reais that actually arrive.
Frequently asked questions about sending money to Brazil
A specialist money-transfer provider or app that converts pounds to reais at or near the mid-market rate, rather than a UK high-street bank charging a flat fee plus a 2–5% rate markup on a slow SWIFT wire. Compare the actual reais that arrive for your exact amount in the table above — and given the real's volatility, timing matters too.
Yes. The CPF — Brazil's 11-digit individual taxpayer number — is mandatory for transfers to an individual (a business uses its 14-digit CNPJ). Without a valid CPF matched to the account holder, the payment will usually be rejected. You'll also need the recipient's bank, branch (agência), account number and the bank's SWIFT/BIC.
With a specialist provider, minutes to same day, and some providers offer near-instant delivery or cash pickup for family. A traditional bank wire (SWIFT) usually takes 2–5 business days. A missing or mismatched CPF is the most common cause of a hold-up.
Not on the UK side for sending your own money — that's not a taxable event, and there's nothing to report to HMRC. Business income remains taxable in the UK, and gifting money can have UK Inheritance Tax implications if you die within seven years. On the Brazil side, larger incoming transfers are reported to the Federal Revenue Service.
The Brazilian real can move sharply, so the day you convert can change how many reais arrive by more than the fee does. For a large or future-dated transfer, a forward contract from a specialist lets you lock today's rate and remove that uncertainty.
Yes. Apps and specialist providers let you save a recipient — CPF and all — and repeat a transfer in seconds at a tight rate each time, avoiding the flat fee and wide margin a bank would charge on every payment.
Our sources & how we keep this current
Last updated: July 2026. The live rates above refresh automatically, and we review the rest of this guide every month — updating it whenever the rules on payments, tax or regulation change.