Successful start to $1.7bn postal bank partnership in Brazil

The new relationship between Brazil’s Post and Telegraph Company (ECT) and the country’s largest bank, Banco do Brasil, has gotten off to a roaring start. Just four days after taking over from rival Bradesco in running ECT’s Postal Bank from the start of this month, Banco do Brasil has seen more than 30,000 new accounts opened by postal customers.

On the first day of the new five-and-a-half year contract, the Postal Bank performed more than 270,000 transactions, the bank said, as it reported that transfer of operations was a “total success”.

Monday’s opening of business alone saw 8,000 requests to open new accounts, with 4,400 social welfare beneficiaries using the network to receive their payments.

“Everything went very smoothly,” said Banco do Brasil unit manager Claudemir Alledo. “The figures show good customer acceptance of Banco do Brasil customers for the convenience of an extra channel to access services.

“The number of requests to open an account today reflects the commitment that the Banco do Brasil has in operating the Postal Bank.”

ECT

ECT said today that this week has now seen 30,000 new accounts opened at the 6,000 Postal Bank locations around the country.

The state-run postal service said the numbers reflected the importance of the Postal Bank in reaching both large centres of population and remote areas of the country, fitting in with ECT’s current strategy of using its services as a tool to promote social inclusion in Brazil.

Jose Furian Filho, the vice president of business at ECT, said: “Aligned with public policies in Brazil, the post office is doing its part by spreading universal access to its services and promoting the inclusion of thousands of Brazilian people within the banking system.”

Dan Conrado, the ECT vice president of retail banking for ECT, added that the success of the partnership was reflected in the numbers. “The figures demonstrate that Brazilians want to stick with the Postal Bank for the long term,” he said.

Banco do Brasil was selected for the Postal Bank contract last June, in a deal that will see Banco do Brasil paying around $1.45bn USD for the privilege of using 6,195 Brazilian post offices for its banking services, reaching 95% of Brazil’s municipalities.

It will pay a further $315m USD to provide banking services to government agencies through the Postal Bank.

Some 10m bank accounts have been opened since 2002 through the Postal Bank. ECT and Banco do Brasil have an option for extending their partnership for a further five years once the current deal runs out.