Dollar card for international spending

Using a Brazilian credit card internationally adds 3.5% IOF plus the bank's FX spread, which can reach 7%, on every purchase. A dollar card eliminates both. See the full international card fee breakdown — IOF, spread, dynamic currency conversion — to understand exactly where the cost hides and what each item is worth.

The saving compounds fast. On a US trip, a traveler spending R$10,000 can pay R$1,200 more on a Brazilian card. For companies running Meta and Google Ads, the hidden cost layer — PIS/COFINS/ISS plus IOF — can reach 15% on top of the invoice. Business card spending on ads, cloud and SaaS is one of the fastest payback cases.

Not all international cards are equal. Understand how spending in dollars with an international card differs from a Brazilian card, learn why holding dollars and spending without converting gives you rate flexibility, and compare how Ruvo stacks up against Nomad for travel.

You hold a dollar balance in your Ruvo wallet and spend it directly on the card — accepted anywhere in the world. There is no conversion at the point of purchase, no bank spread applied behind your back, and no IOF. Converting reais to digital dollars costs 0.5% at the commercial rate; spending those dollars on the card is free.

Decree 12.499/2025 unified the IOF rate on international card purchases at 3.5%, reversing a scheduled reduction. Add the bank's FX spread — which the statement never shows separately — and the real cost of a Brazilian card abroad is typically 4% to 10.5% above the commercial dollar rate. A dollar card sidesteps this entirely because you are spending a balance you already hold, not triggering a foreign-exchange event.

The Ruvo card is virtual by default and works with Apple Pay and Google Pay, which cover the vast majority of merchants in the US and Europe. A physical card is available on request. You control your balance, set spending limits and view every transaction in the app, in real time.

Ruvo cards come with configurable spending notifications — every charge appears in the app in real time. If you see an unrecognised charge, you can freeze the card immediately without affecting your dollar balance. Spending limits can be set on the virtual card separately from the physical card, which is useful for recurring subscriptions (set a fixed virtual limit) versus variable travel spending. For businesses, you can issue multiple virtual cards against the same account, each with its own limit — making expense tracking for SaaS tools or advertising accounts straightforward.