Banco Bradesco SA could close up to 200 of its 4,750 branches this year amid an ongoing review of its brick-and-mortar network and a growing focus on digital platforms, Reuters reported, citing the bank's CEO Octavio Lazari.
The bank closed about 565 branches in 2017, although it has integrated 850 branches in its network with its purchase of HSBC Bank Brasil SA - Banco Múltiplo in 2016.
The acquisition has resulted in major cost savings and Bradesco is looking to further use the integrated operations to leverage revenues, Lazari said. The revenue strategy will involve the selling of more products to clients, with the bank already using advanced data analytics to select products to be offered. The bank is looking to raise the average number of products sold per client to two by year-end from 1.6 currently, Lazari said.
Aside from its online bank Next, which was launched in October 2017, Bradesco is also widening its digital presence through partnerships with financial technology startups. Collaborating with fintechs could help in retaining clients of all ages, Lazari noted.
In an interview with Valor Econômico, the CEO said they are discussing and studying the concept of "open banking," in which banks open up information on customers to third parties, including fintechs, under the client's consent. The concept has become mandatory for several European countries but is a rather new concept in Brazil.
"We're going to work this out by looking at all the security, the fiduciary responsibility I have about customer data," Lazari said, noting that open banking is "a much more disruptive discussion than the digital bank."
As an answer to the rapidly growing influence of fintechs, Bradesco has opened InovaBra, a coworking space in which fintechs and startups develop new products and services that can be adopted by the bank.
A booming financial technology sector has been a major factor in the growing decline of physical bank branches in Brazil. According to central bank data, there were 21,062 bank branches in Brazil at the end of 2017, down from 22,547 a year earlier and 23,126 in 2014.
