Article Preview
Top2. Crédito Agrícola In Portugal
Although its roots date back to the late 15th century, the true CA was created in 1911 with the Decree-Law of that date which regulated the creation and functioning of the Caixas Agrícolas, or Mutual Agricultural Credit Banks. CA is one of the few private financial institutions with exclusively Portuguese capital.
It is a cooperative-based banking institution within a model that is well represented in the European Union financial systems, especially in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy. According to the CCAM Serras de Ansião Directors’ Report for 2010 (2011: 13-14): “At European level, cooperative banks have a market share of over 20%, provide a service for 170 million clients from 4.100 local banks with 65.000 branches, and employ hundreds of thousands of people. Some of the cooperative banks are among the leading institutions in Europe”. In accordance with their cooperative nature, the CCAM act as boosters of regional development.
At the end of 2010 financial year, the CA’s liquid assets stood at around 14 billion euro, representing around 8% of the Portuguese Gross Domestic Product (CCAM Serras de Ansião, 2011). This testifies to its national importance and its relevance in the country’s financial system.
According to the above-mentioned Report, in some districts of the Portuguese mainland the CA network represents over 30% of the existing banking network, has 10% of the national ATM (Automated Teller Machine) network - 400 of these in places where no other type of banking service exists – and almost 15.700 on-site EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale) machines, as well as having a 7% share in the cards market, in function of its service provision as acquirer.