How to pay for US university and expenses from Brazil
How much of your money disappears before it reaches the US? Tuition, housing and living costs in dollars add up fast, and the Brazilian path stacks IOF and FX on top. Here is how to pay in dollars for far less.
What you really pay from Brazil
US$10,000 of tuition, three routes
How much actually reaches the university
In a recent check, the same US$10,000 cost about R$53,096 through Flywire and about R$51,400 through Ruvo, roughly R$1,700 less for the identical dollars. The bars above illustrate the share of value received on each route, not a fixed rate.
Every common route bakes in a markup before tuition even starts
Pay tuition in dollars, straight from your US account
With Ruvo you get US account details and your own digital dollar balance. The cost is simple and shown before you confirm.
Convert reais to digital dollars
Convert when the rate is good — it does not have to be all at once.
0.5%Send to the university
Direct by ACH, wire or RTP, with your own US account details, no intermediary platform.
0.5%The school receives dollars
A clean payment, with no IOF taken out along the way.
0% IOFLiving expenses cost even less on the card
The Ruvo card spends straight from your digital dollar balance, with no send fee. The only cost is the initial real-to-digital-dollar conversion, the same advantage covered in the dollar card for US travel guide, applied to a full semester instead of a trip.
0% IOF · 0% spread on dollar purchases · 0.5% only on the initial conversion.
A full year, side by side
Tuition · US$60,000
Living expenses · US$15,000 on the card
US$4,200 saved per year
Paying US tuition from Brazil: cost comparison
| Aspect | Ruvo | Flywire | Bank SWIFT |
|---|---|---|---|
| IOF | 0% | Embedded in rate | 3.5% |
| Rate used | ~Commercial rate | Platform rate + markup | Bank rate + spread |
| Pays university directly | Yes, by ACH or wire | Via platform | Via SWIFT |
| Fee shown before confirming | Yes | No | Rarely |
Plan your conversions
Ruvo gives you US account details and a dollar balance, so you pay the university directly by ACH, wire or RTP in dollars, with 0% IOF.
A bank SWIFT transfer adds 3.5% IOF plus FX, and platforms like Flywire bake a markup into the rate. With Ruvo it is 0.5% to convert reais to dollars plus 0.5% to send by ACH, wire or RTP, 1% all in, with 0% IOF.
Spend on the card, which uses your dollar balance with 0% IOF and 0% spread on dollar purchases. The only cost is the 0.5% to convert reais to digital dollars.
Yes. Ruvo gives you a US account number and routing number, so you wire or send ACH to the university directly — the same way a US resident would. You only need a platform like Flywire if the university specifically requires one.
Ruvo supports outbound wire transfers. You send from your dollar balance to any US bank account. The cost is 0.5% to send, plus 0.5% to convert from reais if funding from Brazil — 1% all in, with 0% IOF.
Yes, and this is the recommended approach. Convert a portion of your semester budget when the rate looks good, hold the dollars, and convert the rest as needed. Holding a dollar balance costs nothing, so there is no pressure to move everything upfront.
Ready to Ruvo?
Start using Ruvo today and take control of your money.
