Bank and payments in Uruguay: two identity documents, proof of address and limits on cash

Opening a bank account in Uruguay is done on paper, and the bank wants to know a lot. Anyone becoming a customer of the BROU, the Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay, hands in an identity document according to the bank, and as a foreigner two valid documents with a photo. Also proof of your address: a bill or receipt in your name showing that address. And proof of your income. The bank may ask for more, because the central bank requires it.

On top of that there are two limits on cash. On arrival you declare more than 10,000 dollars at customs. And a large amount, such as a house or car, you pay mostly through the bank.

What	Rule	Source
Becoming a BROU customer	free of charge	gub.uy
Identity, for a foreigner	two valid documents with a photo, original and copy	BROU
Address	a bill or receipt in your name with your address	BROU
Income	proof of your income; without income of your own, proof of what you will deposit regularly	BROU
Cash across the border	above 10,000 dollars, declare at customs	Ley 19.574
Fine for not declaring	30 % of the amount above 10,000 dollars; on repetition 60 % of the total	Ley 19.574
Paying cash	up to 200,000 UI, or 5 % of the transaction up to 450,000 UI	Ley 19.210
AOW to Uruguay	in euros, at most € 0.48 in costs per payment on the SVB side	SVB

What do you take to the bank?

The BROU lists as the basis:

• your identity document, original and copy; as a foreigner two valid documents with a photo, for example your passport and a second document with a photo;
• proof of your address: a bill or receipt in your name;
• proof of your income, for example an annual statement of your pension;
• an estado de responsabilidad patrimonial, an overview of your assets and debts; for some products with a notary's statement.

For a current account, the cuenta corriente, the bank also asks for references and a statement of assets signed by a notary. That notary must have registered their signature with the bank.

A Uruguayan identity card is not listed as a requirement. With the card you do have one more document with a photo, and your number is then the same everywhere; see registration and numbers.

In your first weeks you often do not yet have a bill in your own name, and so no proof of address for the bank. Then get a constancia de domicilio from the police station of your area. It is free and ready within a day. Ask the bank beforehand whether it accepts it as proof of address.

How does cash work?

Ley 19.574 requires anyone bringing more than 10,000 dollars, or the equivalent, in cash across the border to declare it to the Dirección Nacional de Aduanas. Anyone who does not gets a fine of 30 % of the excess; on repetition 60 % of the whole amount. The money is also held.

In Uruguay itself you may pay cash in a transaction up to 200,000 UI, or up to 5 % of the value as long as that does not exceed 450,000 UI. The rest goes through the bank. That applies since the amendment of March 2026, and it mainly affects buying a house or a car; see buying a house in Uruguay. UI stands for unidad indexada, a unit of account that moves with inflation.