Ruvo Card

What the Ruvo Card is

Ruvo is a global account aimed squarely at Brazilians earning in dollars - freelancers, remote professionals and companies paid from abroad. It is built by ex-Uber founders, came through Y Combinator, raised $4.6 million led by 1confirmation with Coinbase Ventures participating, and has been covered by Brazil Journal and Valor Econômico for making Pix the on-ramp to a dollar account.

The card is a Visa dollar card secured by your Ruvo balance. You top up the wallet with BRL, USD or crypto, the money is converted to digital dollars behind the scenes, you choose how much of the balance to make available on the card, and you spend. Leftover card balance can be returned to the wallet at any time.

Why the fee structure stands out

For a Brazilian cardholder, the headline is 0% IOF. Brazilian cards typically charge 4.38% IOF to convert and around 3.5% IOF plus FX markups on spending abroad; Ruvo eliminates it because the card is denominated in US dollars. On top of that:

• No fees on USD transactions.
• A flat 1% foreign transaction fee on purchases in other currencies, plus the exchange rate.
• No markup on the exchange rate itself - Ruvo uses the market rate.
• Account transfers from 0.3% to 0.9% by route and account type, with crypto-to-crypto transfers and USD-to-digital-dollar conversions free.
• Up to 6% APY on your balance, credited daily.

How the money is held

Ruvo describes its wallets as non-custodial and states that it does not custody funds or carry out regulated activities in Brazil, with financial services delivered by regulated third parties - Rain and Persona are named among its licensed partners. The card balance itself, once you move funds onto it, sits with the card provider. That split is why this listing is recorded as hybrid custody rather than purely self-custodial or purely custodial.

Worth knowing before you sign up

The card FAQ describes the product as a secured credit card while the rest of the site presents it as a dollar spending card: functionally it is pre-funded either way, but the language is inconsistent. Physical cards are only issued on request through support rather than as standard, no ATM access is documented, no spending limits are published, and there is no cashback to offset the 1% foreign currency fee. Ruvo is also young - the app launched in 2025 - so the track record is short even though the backing and fee disclosures are unusually clean.

Who it suits

Anyone in Brazil who is paid in dollars and wants to spend them without IOF is the exact target, and the 0% IOF plus 1% FX combination is hard to beat locally. If you are outside Brazil, compare ZAR Card for emerging-market dollar spending or browse the crypto cards directory.

Card features

• Visa dollar card, accepted online, in store and through digital wallets worldwide.
• Apple Pay and Google Pay support.
• Balance-secured spending: you choose how much of your wallet balance to make available on the card, and can move unused funds back.
• Real-time transaction view with freeze and unfreeze in the app.
• Physical card available on request through support.
• No USD transaction fees and no IOF on purchases.

Account features

• Hold and convert between BRL, USD, digital dollars and crypto in one account.
• Pix on-ramp for BRL deposits, with instant conversion to digital dollars.
• Your own US account details for receiving dollars, free to receive.
• Send to any Pix key, US account or crypto wallet, typically arriving in minutes.
• Yield on balances of up to 6% APY, credited daily.
• Business accounts for CNPJs, plus a transfer calculator that shows the effective rate and total fees before you confirm.

What can be deposited

Ruvo accepts BRL through Pix, USD into your own US account details, and crypto - with stablecoin balances in digital dollars behind the scenes and USDT used as the reference conversion asset in its transfer calculator. Deposits are converted to digital dollars so the card always spends dollars.

Conversions

• BRL, USD, digital dollars and crypto convert instantly inside the account.
• USD-to-digital-dollar conversions and crypto-to-crypto transfers are free.
• Sends out cost 0.3% to 0.9% depending on route and account type, with the effective rate shown before confirmation.

Custody and partners

Ruvo states that its wallets are non-custodial, that it works with regulated banking and payment partners, and that it does not itself custody funds or conduct regulated activity in Brazil. Persona handles identity verification and Rain, a licensed US stablecoin card issuer, is named among its partners. Once funds sit on the card balance, they are held by the card provider rather than by you - so treat the card balance as spending money and the wallet as where you hold reserves.

Card fees

• USD transactions: no fees.
• Non-USD transactions: 1% foreign transaction fee plus the applicable exchange rate.
• IOF: 0%.
• FX markup on the exchange rate: none - Ruvo uses the market rate.
• Cashback: none.

Account fees

• Opening a Ruvo account: free.
• Crypto-to-crypto transfers: free.
• USD to digital dollar conversions: free.
• Sending money: 0.3% to 0.9%, depending on account type and currency.
• Yield on balances: up to 6% APY, credited daily.

Unpublished

• Physical card issuance cost, if any.
• Spending limits per transaction, day or month.
• ATM availability and associated fees.

The comparison that matters

For a Brazilian spender, the alternative is a local card charging roughly 3.5% IOF plus an FX markup abroad, and possibly a spread on the conversion. Ruvo replaces that with 0% IOF, no fee on dollar spend, and 1% on other currencies - which is why the number to watch is simply how much turnover you push through in non-dollar currencies.