Banks

Where to manage your finances

Banking in Portugal has changed out of all recognition in the last decade, during which the number of banks and branches has increased considerably, although during recent years there have been many take-overs and mergers.

Banks in Portugal are generally highly profitable. There are two main types of banks in Portugal: clearing banks and savings banks ( caixas). The major banking groups include Banco Commercial Portuguese (owns Banco Português do Atlântico), Champalimaud Group (includes Banco Totta e Açores and Banco Pinto e Sotto Mayor) and the Banco Espiríto Santo group (which includes Banco Espiríto Santo e Comercial de Lisboa). The main banks account for more than 80 per cent of the market share.

Portugal’s largest credit institution, measured by total assets, is the state-owned savings bank, Caixa Geral de Depósitos. All banks in Portugal are listed in the yellow pages under Bancos.

Since the revolution in 1974 and, more importantly, since joining the EU in 1986, Portugal’s banks have (in general) emerged from the dark ages and are now more efficient. Banking has become highly automated in recent years, although Portuguese banks remain frustratingly slow and inefficient compared with banks in many other EU countries.

Where human involvement is concerned Portuguese banks remain Neanderthal, although with regard to electronic banking they compare favourably with other European countries, and their ATMs (cash dispensers) are among the world’s best.

In recent years bank ‘branches’ have been established in supermarkets and Portugal has the most developed European supermarket banking network (e.g. Banco Portuguese do Atlantico teamed up with Jeronimo Martins’ retail group to open branches called Expresso Atlantico in Pingo Doce and Feira Nova supermarkets, and in shopping centres). Supermarket outlets rely on telephone banking for personal banking services. There are no drive-in banks in Portugal.

There are also several foreign banks operating in Portugal, although there are fewer (with an overall smaller market share) than in most other European countries. Foreign banks are present in Lisbon and some also in Porto, but branches are rare in other towns, although in recent years branches have opened on the Algarve. Foreign banks include Barclays, Citibank, Deutsch Bank and Rheinhyp (a major German mortgage bank).

Most banks are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 3pm (or from 8.30am to 11.45am and from 1 to 3pm in smaller towns) and are closed at weekends and on public holidays. In Lisbon and some resorts on the Algarve, some bank branches open in the evening to change money.