They were record profits those of the banking last year, but half came from the commissions charged to customers. Consumer protection says nothing justifies him.
They have been weighing on the Portuguese portfolio since interest rates were at historical minimums. It was at the time the justification for the growing bank committees. Now, with high interest rates, nothing seems to have changed.
In fact, 2024 brought record profits to the bank, he learned at the beginning of the month. Now it is known, thanks to that half of these profits came precisely from the commissions charged to customers.
2488 million euros, which is the same as saying that 4800 euros were charged per minute over the last year. 5% above the previous year. Growth always above inflation in the last decade.
“In February 2023, the governor of Banco de Portugal, Mario Centeno, warned that the conditions were gathered for bank committees to begin to lower. And what happens was not verified. The commissions did not lower, it is certain that there are not many increases (…) but what has happened is the successive reduction of exemptions, that is, the bank is expanding the collection base,”
Deco Proteste estimates that only account maintenance already costs an average of 70 euros for each client on the days. Including some other extra basic services already raises the commissions to over 110 euros a year.
At a time when, the consumer protection says, there are fewer and fewer counters and staff. The ranking of the commissions is not fully coincident with the ranking of profits.
Caixa Geral de Depósitos was the second largest commission collector, raising 581 million. It is beaten by the Millennium BCP, which totaled 809 million.
The banks say, however, that they have not increased commissions. What increased was the activity namely the insurance.
