Fintechs to buy dollars in Uruguay
Fintechs operate from their own app and only quote for their users: you have to open the account before you can exchange. In return they often show the tightest spread on the market — but they move balances, not banknotes.
Reputation surveyed on July 24, 2026 · Live rates
Pick by what you need
- Rates: come from our automatic scraping of each house’s official site, updated several times a day. The spread is the gap between buy and sell: the lower it is, the less you lose on a round trip.
- Reputation: average and count of public Google Maps reviews as of July 24, 2026. We do not rate anyone ourselves: every figure is cited, and each number was double-checked with an independent second search. Fewer than 30 reviews is flagged as a small sample.
- “No data” is not a bad sign: small or inland houses often have few published reviews.
- We have no commercial affiliation with any house: nobody pays to appear or to rank. Spot an error? Tell us via the contact page.
| House | Reviews (Google) | USD buy | USD sell | Spread | Operation | Coverage | More |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OCA Fintech | No data | $ 39,93 | $ 40,53 | 1,49% | App account required | 17 depts. | Official siteBranchesHistory |
| Prex Fintech | No data | $ 40,02 | $ 40,43 | 1,02% | App account required | — | Official siteBranchesHistory |
House by house
Exchange house, bank or fintech?
Exchange houses make their living buying and selling currency and compete block by block, so they usually beat bank counters on cash rates — no account needed.
Banks (BROU, Itaú, Santander and Scotiabank) pay off mainly if you are already a customer: electronic channels can improve on the counter rate and you avoid carrying cash. As a neutral reference, the central bank (BCU) publishes the daily interbank rate — a wholesale price no counter will match exactly.
Fintechs and issuers such as Prex and OCA use their digital channels and customer rates: they work well for balances and purchases, but physical banknotes still require an authorized counter.
Border towns and the interior
In border cities like Rivera, Chuy or Río Branco, Uruguayan and Brazilian houses coexist and the real trades with very thin spreads: houses such as Cambio Principal, Cambial or Cambio Fénix live off that flow.
Inland, supply concentrates in one or two houses per town (Cambio Young in Young, Cambio Minas in Minas, Cambio Openn in Melo). With less competition, checking Montevideo rates before exchanging large amounts always pays.
In Punta del Este and Maldonado competition is fierce in season (Aeromar, Maiorano and the big chains): prices move faster, so check the day’s rate.
Safety and regulation
Every house listed here is authorized and supervised by the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU), which publishes the official registry of licensed exchange houses. Each house’s “BCU” link goes to its entry in that registry.
Exchanging at a licensed house gets you a receipt and verified banknotes. Avoid informal street exchange: besides being illegal, it is the main source of counterfeit bills.
Under anti-money-laundering rules, medium and large amounts require ID (cédula or passport). This is normal and applies at every institution.
Department
Frequently asked questions
Sources and references
- OCA — sitio oficial
- OCA — acceso oficial a Mi Cuenta
- BCU — información oficial sobre OCA
- Sitio oficial Prex (servicios, cuenta, cambio de divisas, regulación BCU)
- Prex — Solicitar tarjeta (retiro en Abitab/Fortex/Correo o envío a…
- Trustpilot — Prex Uruguay (2,0/5, 69 opiniones)
- AppBrain — Prex Uruguay Android (4,31/5, ~27.000 calificaciones)
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- Banco Itaú adquirió participación en dos fintech uruguayas: Prex y Paigo (Montevideo…
Where does it pay to exchange today?
The best price changes every day. Check the live comparator with every house, or find the nearest branch on the map.