One of the first things foreign travelers in Brazil might notice when they start using cash - the real - is that there is a shortage of change.
Using a credit card as much as possible comes up as one of the natural solutions for that problem, since international credit card rates tend to be better than exchange rates at Brazilian airports and banks anyway. However, a lot of great shopping in Brazil is done at street markets and small businesses where credit cards are not an option.
The shortage of change in Brazil extends to places that you wouldn't expect to suffer from it, such as a busy supermarket in a major city on a Saturday morning. Hand the cashier a R$ 20 bill to pay for $ 4.50 and you're likely to get the reaction: "O senhor tem troco/trocado?" or "A senhora tem troco/trocado?", meaning "Do you have change, sir/madam?"
Who's Hoarding the Change?
The problem often gets serious enough to motivate Banco Central and other companies and organizations to launch campaigns urging people to use their coins.
In a 2008 interview to Infomoney, a representative of a major commerce association described the problem as "chronic". According to the same report, by the end of 2008 Banco Central should have added 1.2 billion coins to the 13,22 billion already in circulation in Brazil.
Come 2009, I sincerely hope to post an update to this article saying, "Problem solved!" However, issuing new coins is something that has been done before, yet the problem keeps coming back. Could Brazil drawers be about to burst with small change?
What You Can Do
The sooner you get used to the situation and prepare yourself to avoid it (or face it), the better. Here's what you can do to handle the lack of change like a Brazilian:
- Become familiar with Brazilian money.
Know what change options are available.
- Ask for as much change as possible when you withdraw money at a bank.
Don't leave the bank without breaking down at least one 50-real bill into R$ 10s. If you withdraw money from an ATM (caixa eletrônico) and only get high-value bills , consider making time to walk into a bank so you can get change there.
- Use your higher-value bills whenever possible.
Of course supermarket cashiers ask customers for change. They know Brazilians bluff. Even when we still have the closest bill to the total value of our purchase, we try to use higher bills at busier and bigger stores such as large bakeries and supermarkets, so we have lower-value bills where change is harder to get.
- Don't panick if your money goes out the door.
Especially in small businesses, a kid or employee will be sent off running on a mission: getting your bill changed. It's a normal Brazilian thing. But if that sounds creepy, show them the bill before you pay and ask: "Tem troco?" ("Do you have change?")That way, if they don't have any change, you can opt out of shopping there while still holding on to your bill.
- Ignore the line behind you.
Brazilians know the lack of change is a national problem, yet some people might let out deep sighs and roll their eyes as your cashier starts asking co-workers for change. Ignore it all.
- Keep social issues in mind.
A lot of people in Brazil barely eke out a living. The street vendor selling crafts in a fair may have to leave all of his/her profits home for the next day's groceries.
Once I helped two foreign travelers who didn't speak Portuguese communicate with a fruit vendor working alone in a somewhat busy street in São Paulo.
The ladies had bought R$4.50 worth of fruit and were mad at the vendor, who looked absolutely stunned, for holding on to a R$50 bill they'd given him. "He won't give us our change", they said. "Please tell them I don't have change for this much", he asked me.
The tourists didn't want him to go fetch change, so they returned the fruit; he returned their money. That was way too tall an order for most street fruit vendors in a lone setting - yet it might be feasible at a street market in full swing - say, at 11am.
- Get used to Brazilian change math.
This is something else you might be asked in Portuguese, so surprise cashiers with your Brazil travel savvy and be the most popular gringo/gringa at the store.
Add whatever small change you have to your payment to obtain just one bill or coin. For example: pay R$ 16.20 with a R$ 20, a $ 1 and two ten centavos, so you can get R$ 5 back. Brazilians do that automatically - it speeds up lines.
Of course, if you keep doing that in the course of a shopping spree, eventually you'll be the one suffering from a lack of change. Manage your cash, credit cards and time carefully so you're not caught waiting for the shopkeeper's child to bring back change just when you found that one-of-a-kind souvenir and your bus is about to leave.
