Banco Postal to reach 5 million checking accounts by end-month
Brazilian financial services provider Banco Postal will be managing 5 million checking accounts by the end of this month, local financial daily Gazeta Mercantil reported.
Banco Postal is a joint venture between Brazil’s largest private bank Banco Bradesco (NYSE: BBD) and the Correios national post office. The bank offers loans and checking and savings accounts to low-income customers with monthly salaries around 500 reais (US$224), among other services.
Banco Postal granted some 1bn reais in loans last year, helping the post office to report net profits of 400mn reais, according to Correios CFO José Osvaldo Carvalho.
Bradesco paid 200mn reais in 2001 to become the post office’s partner in Banco Postal, outbidding private bank Banco Itaú (NYSE: ITU) and federal bank Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF) in a public tender.
Banco Postal began operations in March 2002 and has since expanded to 5,000 branches in 1,110 municipalities where no other financial institutions exist. The bank expects to open shop in another 600 municipalities by the end of this year, the daily quoted Carvalho as saying.
