This exploratory study shows how the major banks operating in Brazil in 2003 apply the two global practices - concentration and dispersion - in the Brazilian urban environment. Four global and two domestic location strategies of those banks were identified. The strategies were found employing the multivariate method of principal component analysis in a matrix of 54 cities versus 31 banks. In the light of world city functions, the gateway city concept as defined by Alan Pred was the basis for interpreting the six bank location strategies. The hinterland of a world city was understood as its functional links to other cities in the country, created in the global economy by advanced producer services in the world city According to the results, the city of Sao Paulo articulates the national and the global economies as the main gateway city in Brazil. Additionally, they point to Curitiba as an alternative Brazilian gateway city. The results also show that high-accumulated sales in a city contribute only slightly to the city performance in global banking circles.