Before you start

CPF
A Brazilian mobile number, which itself needs the CPF
Passport plus CRNM or the Federal Police protocol
Proof of a Salvador address, for traditional banks

Step-by-step

1
CPF first, always
No Brazilian institution opens anything without one, and there is no workaround. This is the reason to obtain it from a consulate before you travel.
OnlineWho: You
2
Open with a digital bank
Nubank, Inter, C6 and PicPay approve app-based applications from CRNM holders in days, and are far more tolerant of an empty Brazilian credit file than a branch of Banco do Brasil or Itaú.
Mobile appWho: You2–7 days
3
Register Pix keys immediately
Link CPF, phone and email as keys. Pix settles in seconds, costs nothing between individuals, and works at any hour. In Salvador it also means you can stop carrying cash, which matters more here than in most Brazilian cities.
Mobile appWho: YouDay 1
4
Learn to pay a boleto
Rent, condomínio, IPTU, IPVA, insurance and many subscriptions are billed as boletos — a slip with a barcode and a digitable line. Any banking app scans or accepts the number and pays it. They have a due date after which interest accrues automatically, and they cannot be part-paid.
Mobile appWho: You
5
Set conservative Pix limits and register your devices
Brazilian banks must offer reduced night-time transfer limits. Set them low, register the devices you actually use, and raise the limit temporarily when you genuinely need to move a deposit. In a city with Salvador's street-crime profile this is the single most useful banking setting you will touch.
Mobile appWho: You
6
Plan the relocation transfer around IOF
The federal financial-operations tax applies at different rates depending on the purpose of the transfer, and consumption or availability operations are taxed more heavily than investment ones. Compare landed cost rather than headline exchange rate.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

CPF
Passport
CRNM or Federal Police protocol
Brazilian mobile number
Proof of Salvador address, for traditional banks

Things most newcomers don’t know

Low night-time Pix limits are a security setting, not a convenience setting, and Salvador is where that matters.

Phone theft in Brazil targets the banking apps rather than the hardware, and the window between losing a handset and losing money is short. Central bank rules require banks to offer a reduced night-time limit and device registration. Setting both on day one costs nothing and caps the worst case; leaving them at the default maximum is how a stolen phone becomes an emptied account.

Source: Banco Central do Brasil — Pix security rules

The boleto is the other half of Brazilian payments and nobody explains it.

Rent, condominium fees, IPTU, IPVA and most recurring bills arrive as a barcoded slip rather than a direct debit. Any banking app pays one by scanning it. What catches newcomers is that a boleto has a hard due date, accrues interest automatically the day after, and cannot be part-paid — so a bill misfiled in an email folder becomes a penalty rather than a reminder.

Source: Febraban and Banco Central payment standards

IOF is charged by purpose, and choosing the wrong one is expensive for no benefit.

Bringing money into an ordinary availability account, spending abroad on a card, and routing funds to an investment account are taxed at materially different rates under the IOF decree. On a relocation-sized sum the gap is real money. One conversation with a Brazilian accountant before the first big transfer usually pays for itself several times over.

Source: Decreto 6.306/2007 and subsequent amendments

A fresh CPF scores as unknown rather than clean, and that mostly hurts you when renting.

Serasa and Boa Vista files start empty. Digital banks will open an account anyway; seguro-fiança underwriters, which is the rental guarantee most Salvador agencies prefer, generally will not. Paying utilities in your own name and holding a secured card builds a file over a few months, so start on day one rather than when a landlord asks.

Source: community-reported, consistent across Brazilian arrivals

Common mistakes to avoid

Attempting any account before the CPF exists.
Leaving Pix night-time limits at the default maximum.
Missing a boleto due date and accruing automatic interest on rent or condomínio.
Comparing transfer providers on FX rate while ignoring IOF.
Assuming an empty credit file only affects credit cards when it mainly blocks rental guarantees.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.