Pressured by greater competition with fintechs and regulatory pressures, large private banks such as Itaú closed the doors of 430 branches.
So last year, totaling a physical network of less than ten thousand points.
Adding to this account the growth of digital operations, which reduces dependence on professionals, the staff has also reduced.
Take, for example, Itaú Unibanco, Bradesco and Santander downsizing their teams by 6,923 thousand people, whose departures were motivated mainly by voluntary resignation programs (PDVs).
However, the expectation of these institutions is that the hard work done on the expenditure side will help pay off.
However, in 2020, lower financial margins and restrained growth in revenues from services and fees.
Big Banks
The earnings of the big banks have been impacted by the increase in the number of players in the sector with the multiplication of fintechs and even regulatory changes such as the overdraft, which limited monthly interest to 8% since last month
Itaú Unibanco, which released its balance sheet on Monday, the 10th, closed 200 branches in the fourth quarter, as it had already signaled to the market.
Only in Brazil, the network shrunk by 172 points. In the year, 436 units were closed, pushing the physical network to 4,504 points, considering Brazil and Latin America. In the Brazilian network alone, the number of branches decreased by 372 units, to 3,158 thousand.
For 2020, the bank's signal, at least so far, is that the pace of branch closures will slow down.
“The continuous investment in technology allowed actions focused on cost efficiency, such as the closure of branches and the voluntary dismissal program.
In non-interest expenses compared to the previous year, below accumulated inflation (4.3% - IPCA) and the collective bargaining agreement in the period”, highlights Itaú, in a report that accompanies its financial statements.
Bradesco
Rival Bradesco followed the same path, with the addition that it failed to meet its target on the expenses side, which grew by 7.2% last year, above the guidance that ranged from 0% to 4%.
With a network of 4,478 thousand branches, the bank reduced its network by more than 100 points last year, most of which closed in the last quarter. At the other end, Santander Brasil opened 45 branches last year.
Bradesco's goal for 2020 is to close another 300 branches. To compensate for the overrun of cost guidance last year, the bank established a zero-based spending budget for 2020.
So with areas such as information technology, marketing and assets having to spend less than last year.
“We have a commitment, a very strong purpose of controlling costs in the coming years”, said the president of Bradesco, Octavio de Lazari, in a conversation with the press, last week.
Itau
On the side of the number of employees, all the big private banks reduced their teams. Itaú laid off 5,454 people last year, causing its workforce to drop from more than 100,000 employees to less than 95,000 as a result of a new POS program.
Competitor Bradesco reduced its team by 1,276 thousand people, also with a mainly voluntary resignation process, which reduced the staff to 97,329 people.
Santander, although it has not announced a POS initiative, has shrunk its staff in silence. There were only 193 employees in the year, but in the quarter the cut reached 1,663 employees.
