not banking on it

When Melaque was a one-bank town, I did most of my financial business with it.

The service was never very good. But it was the only show in town.

When Intercam expanded its banking services, I switched most of my business to it. But I kept a small checking account at Banamex because I regularly visited its tellers to exchange the 500-peso notes that disgorge from the ATMs to smaller notes I can actually use in the village.

Until the coronavirus passes, Banamex will not be offering me that service. To cut down on the possibility of swapping viruses in the bank, our Banamex restricts entry to anyone unless a teller is available. The people who once waited in chairs now wait on line outside. That is Tuesday's line you see in the photograph. It stretches beyond the frame.

The reason the line is so long is that the bank cut back its service days from five to two. It is open only on Monday and Tuesday. Squeezing five days of customers into two days leads to -- well, what you are looking at. Long lines. Long waits.

A friend waited on line for two hours on Tuesday merely to get through the door and then for two additional hours waiting to talk with a manager. Her purpose for being there was worth the wait. My mission to get change was not.

The only other reason I have to go to Banamex is to pay for my Telcel internet. There is a possibility that I will need to go to Manzanillo tomorrow. If I do, I will stop by Telcel and pay for several months in advance rather than wait for two hours to pay one bill. (I would pay online, but I am having trouble accessing that account.)

After all, we have no idea how long we will need to deal with bank conga lines.