Tried a local bank but it would not accept my ATM card. I knew Citibank would. There was a high…read morefee for withdrawal but what you gonna do. I think it said R$24 or 24 reais. R$ is the notation for their currency called 'real' or 'reais' for plural. At the current rate the fee equaled to about $7.60 or so. Keep in my that your own bank may charge a fee as well. I was just happy to have some local currency in hand. I am also happy that it's just a few blocks from where I'm staying. I'm sure I'll come back for another withdrawal again before I leave.

I've never had a good experience here and a simple transaction like paying my rent usually takes…read moreabout 45 minutes. The staff never explains anything very well and I always have to tell them that yes, I can pay my bills at that branch. The ATM is going to charge you a lot to use it. As far as I know this is the one of the only banks in Ipanema that does this, and my guess is because foreigners will recognize the name. You can easily go to any other bank, like Banco do Brasil, and not get charged anything for using the ATM. Don't waste your time or money.

Banking here is generally a hassle! They treat customers like they (the bank) are doing you a great…read morefavor! Just to "break" larger Brazilian denominations into smaller ones is a ridiculous issue and they (the bank) will only do it for about 20 or 30 reais at the most! In Rio de Janeiro you need smaller denominations for many things (such as bus travel, use at the beach, and so on)! Many businesses in Rio de Janeiro treat costumers like bums and CitiBank is one of them!