Brazil's banks are preparing for a wave of consolidation following this week's merger of Itaú and Unibanco to create the biggest bank in South America.

Brazil has about 150 banks, many of them small players concentrating on a single line of business such as car loans or payroll-linked loans, areas that have grown quickly in line with rising employment and wages. "Smaller banks have been seeing growth of 30 or 40 per cent a year," says Ms Lisboa. "That's over. They'll have to reinvent themselves."