The bank is betting on the raising of new customers to collect profit losses with the drop of interest rates.
After a period of profit relevant driven by the rise in the European Central Bank (ECB) interest rates, Portuguese banks are now adopting a new strategy to conform to the breakdown of the rates caused by the rate of rates: increase the number of customers.
In a highly bank -based market with little variation in the number of deposit accounts in order over the years, banks have sought attract new customers Through aggressive promotions, it refers.
Immigration has helped maintain population growth, but the number of accounts has not registered wide variations since 2000. Given this, the solution found has been the supply of financial incentivesespecially for customers who dominate their salars in the accounts.
In recent months, several advertising campaigns have emerged with the aim of gaining new customers. Banks are offering cash bonuss, such as BPI, which promises 500 euros on a continent cardBankinter, which offers up to 504 euros, and ActivoBank, with 300 euros.
BCP and Santander are not behind either, offering bonuses ranging from 50 to 500 euros. In addition, Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Millennium offer benefits as 50 euros to spend on Amazon or “powerbanks” for those who join credit cards.
With the expectation of continuing the decrease in interest rates, competition in the banking sector should be increasingly intense.
The numbers confirm the pressure on the institutions – in the first nine months of 2023, the combined financial margin of the five largest banks in Portugal was about 7 billion euros, representing a growth of only 5%well below increases greater than 50% recorded in 2022.
This pressure is also noted in Deposit interest rates in Portugal. The average interest rate of the new time deposits of private customers decreased in January, for the 13th consecutive month, to 1.98%, compared to 2.16% in December 2024, the Banco de Portugal (BDP) released today.
In the whole of eurozone countries, the average interest rate of new deposits retreated 0.11 percentage pointsto 2.34%, with Portugal having a place between euro countries and now the fifth country that worsens the deposits.
Regarding the amount of new private deposit operations, 1416 million euros increased in January, totaling 13 087 million euros.
As for companies, BDP data indicate that the average remuneration of new time deposits went from 2.66% in December to 2.44% in January. In the month under analysis, new company deposit operations totaled 9175 million euros, less 825 million than in December 2024, with deposits up to one year 99% of new deposits represented.
With the slowdown of the financial margin, the pace of growth of bank profits is expected decrease in the coming yearsas has already been found at BCP in September 2023.
