Banking

To get into a bank here. One has to go through a narrow revolving door with metal detector. There is armed security watching from a high platform with his head sticking out.

There are usually long lines, especially the cashier area where many people pay their bills. Not every bank offer foreign currency exchange. For Brazilians, they are allowed to exchange US$3,000 maximum each year.

ATM is very popular here. They are all touch screens. If one withdraws money, passowrd has to be input again. There are animation reminders on the screen.

In an documentary, it told there were average one person each day kidnapped to empty his/her account at ATMs.

During the last banking crisis in the 80s, withdrawls were limited. Therefore many companies went out of business since they couldn't pay their bills and wages. Adriana was working as a teller at the time. She has to recalculate the bill amounts into the new currency. The economy suffered a collapse at the time. Inflation was rampant. Supermarket workers were busy stamping new prices.

I ask, "Did people buy gold?" Even Adriana's ex-banker father doesn't know about buying gold. And today, few Brazilians know where to buy gold. As usual, few understand their experiences of the economic crisis. History will repeat itself here, definitely.