Yet, despite the delay, Sandra is delighted to have opened an account at Banco Popular do Brasil, a new subsidiary of government-owned Banco do Brasil. Like millions of low income earners in Brazil, Sandra makes her living in the so-called informal economy. She buys clothes at the wholesale markets in the far-away Brás neighbourhood near the centre of São Paulo and sells to her private clientele.
With no bank account, she had to ask for payment in cash or face the humiliation of asking friends to cash third-party cheques. Now she can make deposits and withdrawals herself, and borrow small amounts at low interest rates to finance her stock. “It’s a marvellous initiative,” she says. “It’s made a lot of difference to my life. It’s much more dignified, just to be able to go into a bank like everybody else.”
